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 | 81,384 | 93.90% | 100,424 | 92.03% |
| Spanish | 3,831 | 4.42% | 6,594 | 6.04% |
| Other Indo-European* | 968 | 1.12% | 1,671 | 1.53% |
| Asian Language** | 384 | 0.44% | 292 | 0.27% |
| Other | 103 | 0.12% | 143 | 0.13% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 86,670 | 100.00% | 109,124 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 2,523 | 38.26% |
| Other Indo-European* | 288 | 17.24% |
| Asian Language** | 175 | 59.93% |
| Other Language | 16 | 11.19% |
| Total | 3,002 | 2.75% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,269 | 33.12% |
| Other Indo-European* | 189 | 19.52% |
| Asian Language** | 277 | 72.14% |
| Other Language | 7 | 6.80% |
| Total | 1,742 | 2.01% |
* "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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