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 | 72,732 | 88.03% | 98,451 | 82.37% |
| Spanish | 8,341 | 10.09% | 18,643 | 15.60% |
| Other Indo-European* | 876 | 1.06% | 1,395 | 1.17% |
| Asian Language** | 431 | 0.52% | 834 | 0.70% |
| Other | 246 | 0.30% | 196 | 0.16% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 82,626 | 100.00% | 119,519 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 9,166 | 49.17% |
| Other Indo-European* | 365 | 26.16% |
| Asian Language** | 342 | 41.01% |
| Other Language | 83 | 42.35% |
| Total | 9,956 | 8.33% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 3,840 | 46.04% |
| Other Indo-European* | 179 | 20.43% |
| Asian Language** | 173 | 40.14% |
| Other Language | 65 | 26.42% |
| Total | 4,257 | 5.15% |
* "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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