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 | 141,190 | 93.52% | 153,009 | 89.21% |
| Spanish | 2,669 | 1.77% | 9,482 | 5.53% |
| Other Indo-European* | 3,244 | 2.15% | 3,891 | 2.27% |
| Asian Language** | 3,351 | 2.22% | 4,482 | 2.61% |
| Other | 518 | 0.34% | 643 | 0.37% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 150,972 | 100.00% | 171,507 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 4,854 | 51.19% |
| Other Indo-European* | 890 | 22.87% |
| Asian Language** | 2,397 | 53.48% |
| Other Language | 238 | 37.01% |
| Total | 8,379 | 4.89% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 975 | 36.53% |
| Other Indo-European* | 853 | 26.29% |
| Asian Language** | 1,844 | 55.03% |
| Other Language | 224 | 43.24% |
| Total | 3,896 | 2.58% |
* "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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