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 | 617,680 | 81.16% | 631,768 | 70.03% |
| Spanish | 44,771 | 5.88% | 96,055 | 10.65% |
| Other Indo-European* | 42,922 | 5.64% | 67,351 | 7.47% |
| Asian Language** | 46,321 | 6.09% | 83,443 | 9.25% |
| Other | 9,404 | 1.24% | 23,572 | 2.61% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 761,098 | 100.00% | 902,189 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 51,250 | 53.35% |
| Other Indo-European* | 18,005 | 26.73% |
| Asian Language** | 42,347 | 50.75% |
| Other Language | 7,463 | 31.66% |
| Total | 119,065 | 13.20% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 21,697 | 48.46% |
| Other Indo-European* | 11,218 | 26.14% |
| Asian Language** | 24,487 | 52.86% |
| Other Language | 2,473 | 26.30% |
| Total | 59,875 | 7.87% |
* "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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