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 | 83,021 | 92.51% | 103,373 | 87.98% |
| Spanish | 5,782 | 6.44% | 12,223 | 10.40% |
| Other Indo-European* | 683 | 0.76% | 1,058 | 0.90% |
| Asian Language** | 217 | 0.24% | 672 | 0.57% |
| Other | 39 | 0.04% | 169 | 0.14% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 89,742 | 100.00% | 117,495 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 5,320 | 43.52% |
| Other Indo-European* | 268 | 25.33% |
| Asian Language** | 342 | 50.89% |
| Other Language | 5 | 2.96% |
| Total | 5,935 | 5.05% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 2,094 | 36.22% |
| Other Indo-European* | 138 | 20.20% |
| Asian Language** | 93 | 42.86% |
| Other Language | 5 | 12.82% |
| Total | 2,330 | 2.60% |
* "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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