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 | 160,697 | 93.54% | 200,820 | 91.14% |
| Spanish | 5,978 | 3.48% | 11,861 | 5.38% |
| Other Indo-European* | 3,509 | 2.04% | 3,542 | 1.61% |
| Asian Language** | 1,376 | 0.80% | 3,611 | 1.64% |
| Other | 232 | 0.14% | 499 | 0.23% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 171,792 | 100.00% | 220,333 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 4,761 | 40.14% |
| Other Indo-European* | 731 | 20.64% |
| Asian Language** | 1,900 | 52.62% |
| Other Language | 83 | 16.63% |
| Total | 7,475 | 3.39% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 2,348 | 39.28% |
| Other Indo-European* | 902 | 25.71% |
| Asian Language** | 901 | 65.48% |
| Other Language | 61 | 26.29% |
| Total | 4,212 | 2.45% |
* "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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