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 | 100,780 | 95.42% | 137,146 | 92.91% |
| Spanish | 2,003 | 1.90% | 6,348 | 4.30% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,360 | 2.23% | 3,388 | 2.30% |
| Asian Language** | 414 | 0.39% | 542 | 0.37% |
| Other | 59 | 0.06% | 189 | 0.13% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 105,616 | 100.00% | 147,613 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 3,526 | 55.55% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,205 | 35.57% |
| Asian Language** | 272 | 50.18% |
| Other Language | 39 | 20.63% |
| Total | 5,042 | 3.42% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 850 | 42.44% |
| Other Indo-European* | 673 | 28.52% |
| Asian Language** | 203 | 49.03% |
| Other Language | 11 | 18.64% |
| Total | 1,737 | 1.64% |
* "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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