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 | 111,324 | 93.42% | 142,022 | 90.78% |
| Spanish | 2,536 | 2.13% | 5,686 | 3.63% |
| Other Indo-European* | 3,537 | 2.97% | 5,932 | 3.79% |
| Asian Language** | 1,454 | 1.22% | 2,252 | 1.44% |
| Other | 318 | 0.27% | 549 | 0.35% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 119,169 | 100.00% | 156,441 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 2,501 | 43.99% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,243 | 37.81% |
| Asian Language** | 1,171 | 52.00% |
| Other Language | 161 | 29.33% |
| Total | 6,076 | 3.88% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,072 | 42.27% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,011 | 28.58% |
| Asian Language** | 770 | 52.96% |
| Other Language | 89 | 27.99% |
| Total | 2,942 | 2.47% |
* "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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