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 | 81,702 | 93.56% | 130,214 | 89.31% |
| Spanish | 2,928 | 3.35% | 11,282 | 7.74% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,815 | 2.08% | 2,399 | 1.65% |
| Asian Language** | 285 | 0.33% | 643 | 0.44% |
| Other | 597 | 0.68% | 1,265 | 0.87% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 87,327 | 100.00% | 145,803 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 4,498 | 39.87% |
| Other Indo-European* | 500 | 20.84% |
| Asian Language** | 224 | 34.84% |
| Other Language | 501 | 39.60% |
| Total | 5,723 | 3.93% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 903 | 30.84% |
| Other Indo-European* | 454 | 25.01% |
| Asian Language** | 153 | 53.68% |
| Other Language | 330 | 55.28% |
| Total | 1,840 | 2.11% |
* "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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