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 | 149,883 | 86.95% | 167,430 | 83.17% |
| Spanish | 18,162 | 10.54% | 28,611 | 14.21% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,531 | 0.89% | 1,818 | 0.90% |
| Asian Language** | 2,549 | 1.48% | 3,163 | 1.57% |
| Other | 249 | 0.14% | 281 | 0.14% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 172,374 | 100.00% | 201,303 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 9,858 | 34.46% |
| Other Indo-European* | 584 | 32.12% |
| Asian Language** | 1,874 | 59.25% |
| Other Language | 101 | 35.94% |
| Total | 12,417 | 6.17% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 6,261 | 34.47% |
| Other Indo-European* | 294 | 19.20% |
| Asian Language** | 1,660 | 65.12% |
| Other Language | 126 | 50.60% |
| Total | 8,341 | 4.84% |
* "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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