The Census asks questions about language use at home to locate groups of people who speak a language other than English. Their isolation or integration into a primarily English speaking community can be determined by their ability to speak English proficiently.
| Language Spoken at Home, 1990-2000 | ||||
| 1990 | 2000 | |||
| Number | Percent | Number | Percent | |
| Only English | 454,653 | 95.68% | 480,014 | 90.18% |
| Spanish | 6,401 | 1.35% | 26,174 | 4.92% |
| Other Indo-European* | 8,032 | 1.69% | 12,889 | 2.42% |
| Asian Language** | 4,565 | 0.96% | 8,218 | 1.54% |
| Other | 1,525 | 0.32% | 5,016 | 0.94% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 475,176 | 100.00% | 532,311 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 13,862 | 52.96% |
| Other Indo-European* | 4,498 | 34.90% |
| Asian Language** | 4,664 | 56.75% |
| Other Language | 2,142 | 42.70% |
| Total | 25,166 | 4.73% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 2,184 | 34.12% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,358 | 29.36% |
| Asian Language** | 2,594 | 56.82% |
| Other Language | 412 | 27.02% |
| Total | 7,548 | 1.59% |
* "Other Indo-European" excludes English and Spanish. "Indo-European" is not synonymous with "European." French, German, Hindi, and Persian are all classified as Indo-European. Hungarian, on the other hand, is lumped into "Other Language."
** "Asian Language" includes languages indigenous to Asia and Pacific islands areas that are not also Indo-European languages. Chinese, Japanese, Telugu, and Hawaiian are all classified here.
Also note that ability to speak English "very well" is based on the self-assessment of those responding to Census questions, not on a test of language ability.
Source: Census 2000 analyzed by the Social Science Data Analysis Network (SSDAN).
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