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 | 150,133 | 93.04% | 160,992 | 91.63% |
| Spanish | 5,055 | 3.13% | 9,181 | 5.23% |
| Other Indo-European* | 5,362 | 3.32% | 4,165 | 2.37% |
| Asian Language** | 518 | 0.32% | 956 | 0.54% |
| Other | 302 | 0.19% | 413 | 0.24% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 161,370 | 100.00% | 175,707 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 4,275 | 46.56% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,170 | 28.09% |
| Asian Language** | 528 | 55.23% |
| Other Language | 135 | 32.69% |
| Total | 6,108 | 3.48% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,959 | 38.75% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,502 | 28.01% |
| Asian Language** | 257 | 49.61% |
| Other Language | 63 | 20.86% |
| Total | 3,781 | 2.34% |
* "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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