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 | 116,086 | 97.45% | 131,566 | 97.03% |
| Spanish | 1,031 | 0.87% | 1,528 | 1.13% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,710 | 1.44% | 1,813 | 1.34% |
| Asian Language** | 252 | 0.21% | 449 | 0.33% |
| Other | 47 | 0.04% | 232 | 0.17% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 119,126 | 100.00% | 135,588 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 506 | 33.12% |
| Other Indo-European* | 403 | 22.23% |
| Asian Language** | 125 | 27.84% |
| Other Language | 87 | 37.50% |
| Total | 1,121 | 0.83% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 294 | 28.52% |
| Other Indo-European* | 425 | 24.85% |
| Asian Language** | 142 | 56.35% |
| Other Language | 8 | 17.02% |
| Total | 869 | 0.73% |
* "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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