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 | 143,764 | 95.91% | 140,318 | 96.57% |
| Spanish | 1,208 | 0.81% | 1,612 | 1.11% |
| Other Indo-European* | 4,420 | 2.95% | 2,735 | 1.88% |
| Asian Language** | 281 | 0.19% | 380 | 0.26% |
| Other | 223 | 0.15% | 252 | 0.17% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 149,896 | 100.00% | 145,297 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 563 | 34.93% |
| Other Indo-European* | 624 | 22.82% |
| Asian Language** | 122 | 32.11% |
| Other Language | 50 | 19.84% |
| Total | 1,359 | 0.94% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 412 | 34.11% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,217 | 27.53% |
| Asian Language** | 103 | 36.65% |
| Other Language | 63 | 28.25% |
| Total | 1,795 | 1.20% |
* "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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