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 | 107,244 | 83.65% | 109,457 | 79.55% |
| Spanish | 14,156 | 11.04% | 22,898 | 16.64% |
| Other Indo-European* | 5,774 | 4.50% | 4,236 | 3.08% |
| Asian Language** | 640 | 0.50% | 608 | 0.44% |
| Other | 393 | 0.31% | 391 | 0.28% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 128,207 | 100.00% | 137,590 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 10,275 | 44.87% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,493 | 35.25% |
| Asian Language** | 292 | 48.03% |
| Other Language | 149 | 38.11% |
| Total | 12,209 | 8.87% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 6,484 | 45.80% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,781 | 30.85% |
| Asian Language** | 255 | 39.84% |
| Other Language | 107 | 27.23% |
| Total | 8,627 | 6.73% |
* "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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