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 | 130,080 | 92.63% | 142,744 | 87.96% |
| Spanish | 8,158 | 5.81% | 17,185 | 10.59% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,440 | 1.03% | 1,407 | 0.87% |
| Asian Language** | 580 | 0.41% | 757 | 0.47% |
| Other | 169 | 0.12% | 185 | 0.11% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 140,427 | 100.00% | 162,278 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 8,839 | 51.43% |
| Other Indo-European* | 283 | 20.11% |
| Asian Language** | 343 | 45.31% |
| Other Language | 51 | 27.57% |
| Total | 9,516 | 5.86% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 3,837 | 47.03% |
| Other Indo-European* | 428 | 29.72% |
| Asian Language** | 196 | 33.79% |
| Other Language | 30 | 17.75% |
| Total | 4,491 | 3.20% |
* "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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