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 | 213,012 | 92.95% | 225,726 | 91.44% |
| Spanish | 4,629 | 2.02% | 10,312 | 4.18% |
| Other Indo-European* | 8,640 | 3.77% | 6,931 | 2.81% |
| Asian Language** | 1,292 | 0.56% | 2,370 | 0.96% |
| Other | 1,603 | 0.70% | 1,526 | 0.62% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 229,176 | 100.00% | 246,865 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 4,627 | 44.87% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,799 | 25.96% |
| Asian Language** | 1,022 | 43.12% |
| Other Language | 365 | 23.92% |
| Total | 7,813 | 3.16% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,544 | 33.35% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,451 | 28.37% |
| Asian Language** | 553 | 42.80% |
| Other Language | 550 | 34.31% |
| Total | 5,098 | 2.22% |
* "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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