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 | 250,314 | 94.78% | 280,562 | 92.15% |
| Spanish | 5,347 | 2.02% | 12,407 | 4.08% |
| Other Indo-European* | 5,025 | 1.90% | 5,852 | 1.92% |
| Asian Language** | 3,011 | 1.14% | 4,835 | 1.59% |
| Other | 416 | 0.16% | 807 | 0.27% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 264,113 | 100.00% | 304,463 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 5,098 | 41.09% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,259 | 21.51% |
| Asian Language** | 2,303 | 47.63% |
| Other Language | 193 | 23.92% |
| Total | 8,853 | 2.91% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,716 | 32.09% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,104 | 21.97% |
| Asian Language** | 1,498 | 49.75% |
| Other Language | 98 | 23.56% |
| Total | 4,416 | 1.67% |
* "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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