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 | 127,031 | 90.88% | 156,941 | 86.22% |
| Spanish | 5,243 | 3.75% | 13,807 | 7.59% |
| Other Indo-European* | 6,860 | 4.91% | 9,404 | 5.17% |
| Asian Language** | 270 | 0.19% | 1,288 | 0.71% |
| Other | 380 | 0.27% | 589 | 0.32% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 139,784 | 100.00% | 182,029 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 6,786 | 49.15% |
| Other Indo-European* | 3,353 | 35.66% |
| Asian Language** | 564 | 43.79% |
| Other Language | 175 | 29.71% |
| Total | 10,878 | 5.98% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 2,384 | 45.47% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,207 | 32.17% |
| Asian Language** | 107 | 39.63% |
| Other Language | 163 | 42.89% |
| Total | 4,861 | 3.48% |
* "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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