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 | 91,339 | 82.27% | 114,032 | 81.57% |
| Spanish | 1,296 | 1.17% | 2,283 | 1.63% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,758 | 1.58% | 2,143 | 1.53% |
| Asian Language** | 16,485 | 14.85% | 21,237 | 15.19% |
| Other | 140 | 0.13% | 98 | 0.07% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 111,018 | 100.00% | 139,793 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 649 | 28.43% |
| Other Indo-European* | 379 | 17.69% |
| Asian Language** | 9,770 | 46.00% |
| Other Language | 42 | 42.86% |
| Total | 10,840 | 7.75% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 301 | 23.23% |
| Other Indo-European* | 379 | 21.56% |
| Asian Language** | 7,829 | 47.49% |
| Other Language | 21 | 15.00% |
| Total | 8,530 | 7.68% |
* "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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