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 | 107,468 | 97.05% | 119,787 | 90.53% |
| Spanish | 1,467 | 1.32% | 7,603 | 5.75% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,146 | 1.03% | 1,728 | 1.31% |
| Asian Language** | 584 | 0.53% | 3,135 | 2.37% |
| Other | 73 | 0.07% | 65 | 0.05% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 110,738 | 100.00% | 132,318 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 4,892 | 64.34% |
| Other Indo-European* | 606 | 35.07% |
| Asian Language** | 1,820 | 58.05% |
| Other Language | 14 | 21.54% |
| Total | 7,332 | 5.54% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 603 | 41.10% |
| Other Indo-European* | 393 | 34.29% |
| Asian Language** | 310 | 53.08% |
| Other Language | 39 | 53.42% |
| Total | 1,345 | 1.21% |
* "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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