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 | 181,559 | 96.00% | 172,876 | 93.26% |
| Spanish | 2,948 | 1.56% | 6,483 | 3.50% |
| Other Indo-European* | 3,222 | 1.70% | 3,595 | 1.94% |
| Asian Language** | 1,065 | 0.56% | 1,507 | 0.81% |
| Other | 330 | 0.17% | 918 | 0.50% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 189,124 | 100.00% | 185,379 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 3,223 | 49.71% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,104 | 30.71% |
| Asian Language** | 710 | 47.11% |
| Other Language | 182 | 19.83% |
| Total | 5,219 | 2.82% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,034 | 35.07% |
| Other Indo-European* | 685 | 21.26% |
| Asian Language** | 578 | 54.27% |
| Other Language | 79 | 23.94% |
| Total | 2,376 | 1.26% |
* "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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