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 | 109,583 | 96.14% | 128,234 | 93.32% |
| Spanish | 960 | 0.84% | 3,136 | 2.28% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,527 | 2.22% | 3,315 | 2.41% |
| Asian Language** | 521 | 0.46% | 1,098 | 0.80% |
| Other | 387 | 0.34% | 1,633 | 1.19% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 113,978 | 100.00% | 137,416 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,598 | 50.96% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,408 | 42.47% |
| Asian Language** | 576 | 52.46% |
| Other Language | 687 | 42.07% |
| Total | 4,269 | 3.11% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 235 | 24.48% |
| Other Indo-European* | 662 | 26.20% |
| Asian Language** | 265 | 50.86% |
| Other Language | 253 | 65.37% |
| Total | 1,415 | 1.24% |
* "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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