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 | 85,241 | 81.13% | 84,234 | 70.04% |
| Spanish | 9,673 | 9.21% | 17,368 | 14.44% |
| Other Indo-European* | 5,287 | 5.03% | 7,523 | 6.25% |
| Asian Language** | 2,789 | 2.65% | 4,092 | 3.40% |
| Other | 2,075 | 1.97% | 7,055 | 5.87% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 105,065 | 100.00% | 120,272 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 10,313 | 59.38% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,322 | 30.87% |
| Asian Language** | 2,010 | 49.12% |
| Other Language | 2,518 | 35.69% |
| Total | 17,163 | 14.27% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 5,862 | 60.60% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,771 | 33.50% |
| Asian Language** | 1,607 | 57.62% |
| Other Language | 658 | 31.71% |
| Total | 9,898 | 9.42% |
* "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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