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 | 76,575 | 93.15% | 84,683 | 88.16% |
| Spanish | 1,742 | 2.12% | 6,105 | 6.36% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,083 | 2.53% | 2,462 | 2.56% |
| Asian Language** | 1,447 | 1.76% | 2,227 | 2.32% |
| Other | 363 | 0.44% | 574 | 0.60% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 82,210 | 100.00% | 96,051 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 3,788 | 62.05% |
| Other Indo-European* | 564 | 22.91% |
| Asian Language** | 985 | 44.23% |
| Other Language | 157 | 27.35% |
| Total | 5,494 | 5.72% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 607 | 34.85% |
| Other Indo-European* | 598 | 28.71% |
| Asian Language** | 878 | 60.68% |
| Other Language | 109 | 30.03% |
| Total | 2,192 | 2.67% |
* "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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