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 | 245,568 | 92.64% | 280,340 | 89.47% |
| Spanish | 5,815 | 2.19% | 13,751 | 4.39% |
| Other Indo-European* | 11,727 | 4.42% | 15,966 | 5.10% |
| Asian Language** | 901 | 0.34% | 1,830 | 0.58% |
| Other | 1,056 | 0.40% | 1,440 | 0.46% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 265,067 | 100.00% | 313,327 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 6,726 | 48.91% |
| Other Indo-European* | 4,992 | 31.27% |
| Asian Language** | 991 | 54.15% |
| Other Language | 502 | 34.86% |
| Total | 13,211 | 4.22% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 2,443 | 42.01% |
| Other Indo-European* | 3,168 | 27.01% |
| Asian Language** | 532 | 59.05% |
| Other Language | 404 | 38.26% |
| Total | 6,547 | 2.47% |
* "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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