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 | 81,853 | 92.27% | 117,415 | 90.03% |
| Spanish | 2,067 | 2.33% | 6,235 | 4.78% |
| Other Indo-European* | 4,259 | 4.80% | 5,567 | 4.27% |
| Asian Language** | 231 | 0.26% | 579 | 0.44% |
| Other | 299 | 0.34% | 616 | 0.47% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 88,709 | 100.00% | 130,412 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,266 | 20.30% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,580 | 28.38% |
| Asian Language** | 299 | 51.64% |
| Other Language | 140 | 22.73% |
| Total | 3,285 | 2.52% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 609 | 29.46% |
| Other Indo-European* | 951 | 22.33% |
| Asian Language** | 111 | 48.05% |
| Other Language | 81 | 27.09% |
| Total | 1,752 | 1.97% |
* "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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