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 | 645,384 | 81.23% | 628,513 | 78.30% |
| Spanish | 57,562 | 7.25% | 82,359 | 10.26% |
| Other Indo-European* | 81,384 | 10.24% | 76,149 | 9.49% |
| Asian Language** | 6,950 | 0.87% | 11,978 | 1.49% |
| Other | 3,217 | 0.40% | 3,703 | 0.46% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 794,497 | 100.00% | 802,702 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 33,758 | 40.99% |
| Other Indo-European* | 29,276 | 38.45% |
| Asian Language** | 6,432 | 53.70% |
| Other Language | 1,024 | 27.65% |
| Total | 70,490 | 8.78% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 28,262 | 49.10% |
| Other Indo-European* | 30,695 | 37.72% |
| Asian Language** | 3,951 | 56.85% |
| Other Language | 896 | 27.85% |
| Total | 63,804 | 8.03% |
* "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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