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 | 170,136 | 96.64% | 182,038 | 96.46% |
| Spanish | 1,573 | 0.89% | 2,392 | 1.27% |
| Other Indo-European* | 3,473 | 1.97% | 2,567 | 1.36% |
| Asian Language** | 593 | 0.34% | 1,316 | 0.70% |
| Other | 281 | 0.16% | 405 | 0.21% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 176,056 | 100.00% | 188,718 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 844 | 35.28% |
| Other Indo-European* | 587 | 22.87% |
| Asian Language** | 468 | 35.56% |
| Other Language | 58 | 14.32% |
| Total | 1,957 | 1.04% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 430 | 27.34% |
| Other Indo-European* | 985 | 28.36% |
| Asian Language** | 275 | 46.37% |
| Other Language | 113 | 40.21% |
| Total | 1,803 | 1.02% |
* "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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