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 | 96,021 | 95.99% | 156,275 | 94.15% |
| Spanish | 1,026 | 1.03% | 3,226 | 1.94% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,192 | 2.19% | 3,469 | 2.09% |
| Asian Language** | 703 | 0.70% | 2,396 | 1.44% |
| Other | 87 | 0.09% | 624 | 0.38% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 100,029 | 100.00% | 165,990 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,126 | 34.90% |
| Other Indo-European* | 784 | 22.60% |
| Asian Language** | 1,013 | 42.28% |
| Other Language | 54 | 8.65% |
| Total | 2,977 | 1.79% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 393 | 38.30% |
| Other Indo-European* | 766 | 34.95% |
| Asian Language** | 339 | 48.22% |
| Other Language | 7 | 8.05% |
| Total | 1,505 | 1.50% |
* "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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