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 | 163,186 | 93.66% | 198,612 | 91.69% |
| Spanish | 3,031 | 1.74% | 5,419 | 2.50% |
| Other Indo-European* | 3,278 | 1.88% | 3,885 | 1.79% |
| Asian Language** | 4,484 | 2.57% | 8,198 | 3.78% |
| Other | 254 | 0.15% | 509 | 0.23% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 174,233 | 100.00% | 216,623 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,450 | 26.76% |
| Other Indo-European* | 694 | 17.86% |
| Asian Language** | 3,003 | 36.63% |
| Other Language | 97 | 19.06% |
| Total | 5,244 | 2.42% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 782 | 25.80% |
| Other Indo-European* | 854 | 26.05% |
| Asian Language** | 1,822 | 40.63% |
| Other Language | 79 | 31.10% |
| Total | 3,537 | 2.03% |
* "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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