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 | 138,441 | 89.20% | 155,360 | 91.26% |
| Spanish | 1,081 | 0.70% | 2,655 | 1.56% |
| Other Indo-European* | 15,342 | 9.89% | 11,316 | 6.65% |
| Asian Language** | 231 | 0.15% | 674 | 0.40% |
| Other | 104 | 0.07% | 231 | 0.14% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 155,199 | 100.00% | 170,236 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 755 | 28.44% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,362 | 20.87% |
| Asian Language** | 353 | 52.37% |
| Other Language | 49 | 21.21% |
| Total | 3,519 | 2.07% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 298 | 27.57% |
| Other Indo-European* | 4,427 | 28.86% |
| Asian Language** | 139 | 60.17% |
| Other Language | 32 | 30.77% |
| Total | 4,896 | 3.15% |
* "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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