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 | 123,389 | 96.27% | 149,692 | 93.78% |
| Spanish | 991 | 0.77% | 3,359 | 2.10% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,871 | 2.24% | 3,721 | 2.33% |
| Asian Language** | 521 | 0.41% | 1,151 | 0.72% |
| Other | 395 | 0.31% | 1,691 | 1.06% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 128,167 | 100.00% | 159,614 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,667 | 49.63% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,540 | 41.39% |
| Asian Language** | 608 | 52.82% |
| Other Language | 710 | 41.99% |
| Total | 4,525 | 2.83% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 248 | 25.03% |
| Other Indo-European* | 788 | 27.45% |
| Asian Language** | 265 | 50.86% |
| Other Language | 259 | 65.57% |
| Total | 1,560 | 1.22% |
* "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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