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 | 158,130 | 94.09% | 199,147 | 92.42% |
| Spanish | 4,560 | 2.71% | 8,685 | 4.03% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,748 | 1.64% | 4,169 | 1.93% |
| Asian Language** | 2,219 | 1.32% | 2,969 | 1.38% |
| Other | 402 | 0.24% | 510 | 0.24% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 168,059 | 100.00% | 215,480 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 2,923 | 33.66% |
| Other Indo-European* | 943 | 22.62% |
| Asian Language** | 993 | 33.45% |
| Other Language | 158 | 30.98% |
| Total | 5,017 | 2.33% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,229 | 26.95% |
| Other Indo-European* | 670 | 24.38% |
| Asian Language** | 901 | 40.60% |
| Other Language | 86 | 21.39% |
| Total | 2,886 | 1.72% |
* "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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