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 | 244,306 | 91.64% | 293,294 | 89.72% |
| Spanish | 7,254 | 2.72% | 15,411 | 4.71% |
| Other Indo-European* | 13,288 | 4.98% | 14,579 | 4.46% |
| Asian Language** | 814 | 0.31% | 2,170 | 0.66% |
| Other | 937 | 0.35% | 1,430 | 0.44% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 266,599 | 100.00% | 326,884 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 5,964 | 38.70% |
| Other Indo-European* | 4,506 | 30.91% |
| Asian Language** | 672 | 30.97% |
| Other Language | 505 | 35.31% |
| Total | 11,647 | 3.56% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 2,507 | 34.56% |
| Other Indo-European* | 3,706 | 27.89% |
| Asian Language** | 324 | 39.80% |
| Other Language | 395 | 42.16% |
| Total | 6,932 | 2.60% |
* "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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