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 | 130,080 | 77.70% | 149,735 | 82.96% |
| Spanish | 1,265 | 0.76% | 2,723 | 1.51% |
| Other Indo-European* | 35,075 | 20.95% | 27,021 | 14.97% |
| Asian Language** | 894 | 0.53% | 971 | 0.54% |
| Other | 108 | 0.06% | 32 | 0.02% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 167,422 | 100.00% | 180,482 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,117 | 41.02% |
| Other Indo-European* | 6,479 | 23.98% |
| Asian Language** | 513 | 52.83% |
| Other Language | 0 | 0.00% |
| Total | 8,109 | 4.49% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 506 | 40.00% |
| Other Indo-European* | 9,852 | 28.09% |
| Asian Language** | 542 | 60.63% |
| Other Language | 42 | 38.89% |
| Total | 10,942 | 6.54% |
* "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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