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 | 134,363 | 97.38% | 159,274 | 96.89% |
| Spanish | 1,320 | 0.96% | 1,915 | 1.16% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,866 | 1.35% | 2,398 | 1.46% |
| Asian Language** | 241 | 0.17% | 586 | 0.36% |
| Other | 184 | 0.13% | 213 | 0.13% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 137,974 | 100.00% | 164,386 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 519 | 27.10% |
| Other Indo-European* | 558 | 23.27% |
| Asian Language** | 256 | 43.69% |
| Other Language | 74 | 34.74% |
| Total | 1,407 | 0.86% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 414 | 31.36% |
| Other Indo-European* | 548 | 29.37% |
| Asian Language** | 104 | 43.15% |
| Other Language | 65 | 35.33% |
| Total | 1,131 | 0.82% |
* "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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