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 | 181,599 | 95.55% | 256,116 | 92.16% |
| Spanish | 3,345 | 1.76% | 10,291 | 3.70% |
| Other Indo-European* | 3,029 | 1.59% | 6,962 | 2.51% |
| Asian Language** | 1,382 | 0.73% | 3,437 | 1.24% |
| Other | 698 | 0.37% | 1,096 | 0.39% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 190,053 | 100.00% | 277,902 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 3,498 | 33.99% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,647 | 38.02% |
| Asian Language** | 1,689 | 49.14% |
| Other Language | 294 | 26.82% |
| Total | 8,128 | 2.92% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 873 | 26.10% |
| Other Indo-European* | 886 | 29.25% |
| Asian Language** | 715 | 51.74% |
| Other Language | 226 | 32.38% |
| Total | 2,700 | 1.42% |
* "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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