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 | 129,381 | 96.08% | 173,936 | 93.73% |
| Spanish | 1,857 | 1.38% | 6,504 | 3.50% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,458 | 1.83% | 3,389 | 1.83% |
| Asian Language** | 687 | 0.51% | 1,137 | 0.61% |
| Other | 282 | 0.21% | 598 | 0.32% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 134,665 | 100.00% | 185,564 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 3,337 | 51.31% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,016 | 29.98% |
| Asian Language** | 607 | 53.39% |
| Other Language | 87 | 14.55% |
| Total | 5,047 | 2.72% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 749 | 40.33% |
| Other Indo-European* | 538 | 21.89% |
| Asian Language** | 367 | 53.42% |
| Other Language | 85 | 30.14% |
| Total | 1,739 | 1.29% |
* "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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