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 | 133,539 | 97.30% | 131,010 | 96.97% |
| Spanish | 1,408 | 1.03% | 2,133 | 1.58% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,736 | 1.26% | 1,350 | 1.00% |
| Asian Language** | 410 | 0.30% | 526 | 0.39% |
| Other | 152 | 0.11% | 90 | 0.07% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 137,245 | 100.00% | 135,109 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 773 | 36.24% |
| Other Indo-European* | 259 | 19.19% |
| Asian Language** | 153 | 29.09% |
| Other Language | 21 | 23.33% |
| Total | 1,206 | 0.89% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 567 | 40.27% |
| Other Indo-European* | 391 | 22.52% |
| Asian Language** | 146 | 35.61% |
| Other Language | 29 | 19.08% |
| Total | 1,133 | 0.83% |
* "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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