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 | 133,337 | 96.44% | 135,174 | 96.61% |
| Spanish | 1,654 | 1.20% | 1,683 | 1.20% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,070 | 1.50% | 1,868 | 1.34% |
| Asian Language** | 816 | 0.59% | 830 | 0.59% |
| Other | 384 | 0.28% | 359 | 0.26% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 138,261 | 100.00% | 139,914 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 560 | 33.27% |
| Other Indo-European* | 347 | 18.58% |
| Asian Language** | 343 | 41.33% |
| Other Language | 86 | 23.96% |
| Total | 1,336 | 0.95% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 696 | 42.08% |
| Other Indo-European* | 610 | 29.47% |
| Asian Language** | 386 | 47.30% |
| Other Language | 165 | 42.97% |
| Total | 1,857 | 1.34% |
* "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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