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 | 128,820 | 96.33% | 175,194 | 94.31% |
| Spanish | 1,372 | 1.03% | 3,474 | 1.87% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,437 | 1.82% | 3,444 | 1.85% |
| Asian Language** | 827 | 0.62% | 3,088 | 1.66% |
| Other | 266 | 0.20% | 560 | 0.30% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 133,722 | 100.00% | 185,760 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,001 | 28.81% |
| Other Indo-European* | 858 | 24.91% |
| Asian Language** | 1,463 | 47.38% |
| Other Language | 91 | 16.25% |
| Total | 3,413 | 1.84% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 521 | 37.97% |
| Other Indo-European* | 764 | 31.35% |
| Asian Language** | 445 | 53.81% |
| Other Language | 34 | 12.78% |
| Total | 1,764 | 1.32% |
* "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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