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 | 171,020 | 93.69% | 224,174 | 91.19% |
| Spanish | 5,672 | 3.11% | 13,815 | 5.62% |
| Other Indo-European* | 4,703 | 2.58% | 6,129 | 2.49% |
| Asian Language** | 634 | 0.35% | 912 | 0.37% |
| Other | 514 | 0.28% | 807 | 0.33% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 182,543 | 100.00% | 245,837 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 5,757 | 41.67% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,433 | 23.38% |
| Asian Language** | 419 | 45.94% |
| Other Language | 156 | 19.33% |
| Total | 7,765 | 3.16% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 2,348 | 41.40% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,406 | 29.90% |
| Asian Language** | 269 | 42.43% |
| Other Language | 195 | 37.94% |
| Total | 4,218 | 2.31% |
* "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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