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 | 134,887 | 93.80% | 136,615 | 95.52% |
| Spanish | 817 | 0.57% | 1,737 | 1.21% |
| Other Indo-European* | 7,630 | 5.31% | 4,290 | 3.00% |
| Asian Language** | 340 | 0.24% | 287 | 0.20% |
| Other | 134 | 0.09% | 97 | 0.07% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 143,808 | 100.00% | 143,026 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 795 | 45.77% |
| Other Indo-European* | 973 | 22.68% |
| Asian Language** | 143 | 49.83% |
| Other Language | 10 | 10.31% |
| Total | 1,921 | 1.34% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 217 | 26.56% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,080 | 27.26% |
| Asian Language** | 134 | 39.41% |
| Other Language | 23 | 17.16% |
| Total | 2,454 | 1.71% |
* "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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