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 | 190,235 | 85.07% | 212,271 | 77.05% |
| Spanish | 8,595 | 3.84% | 22,593 | 8.20% |
| Other Indo-European* | 17,557 | 7.85% | 23,969 | 8.70% |
| Asian Language** | 4,844 | 2.17% | 12,920 | 4.69% |
| Other | 2,389 | 1.07% | 3,732 | 1.35% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 223,620 | 100.00% | 275,485 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 12,347 | 54.65% |
| Other Indo-European* | 6,820 | 28.45% |
| Asian Language** | 4,422 | 34.23% |
| Other Language | 1,116 | 29.90% |
| Total | 24,705 | 8.97% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 4,085 | 47.53% |
| Other Indo-European* | 5,124 | 29.18% |
| Asian Language** | 2,237 | 46.18% |
| Other Language | 716 | 29.97% |
| Total | 12,162 | 5.44% |
* "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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