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 | 178,128 | 90.99% | 215,173 | 83.71% |
| Spanish | 7,343 | 3.75% | 23,246 | 9.04% |
| Other Indo-European* | 5,389 | 2.75% | 9,853 | 3.83% |
| Asian Language** | 3,886 | 1.99% | 5,845 | 2.27% |
| Other | 1,017 | 0.52% | 2,921 | 1.14% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 195,763 | 100.00% | 257,038 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 11,385 | 48.98% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,641 | 26.80% |
| Asian Language** | 2,551 | 43.64% |
| Other Language | 647 | 22.15% |
| Total | 17,224 | 6.70% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 2,805 | 38.20% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,483 | 27.52% |
| Asian Language** | 1,486 | 38.24% |
| Other Language | 329 | 32.35% |
| Total | 6,103 | 3.12% |
* "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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