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 | 92,590 | 94.38% | 121,540 | 92.27% |
| Spanish | 2,273 | 2.32% | 5,467 | 4.15% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,037 | 2.08% | 2,276 | 1.73% |
| Asian Language** | 1,074 | 1.09% | 2,229 | 1.69% |
| Other | 126 | 0.13% | 208 | 0.16% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 98,100 | 100.00% | 131,720 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,399 | 25.59% |
| Other Indo-European* | 502 | 22.06% |
| Asian Language** | 776 | 34.81% |
| Other Language | 57 | 27.40% |
| Total | 2,734 | 2.08% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 746 | 32.82% |
| Other Indo-European* | 481 | 23.61% |
| Asian Language** | 277 | 25.79% |
| Other Language | 55 | 43.65% |
| Total | 1,559 | 1.59% |
* "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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