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 | 118,500 | 82.79% | 178,413 | 74.94% |
| Spanish | 17,229 | 12.04% | 42,158 | 17.71% |
| Other Indo-European* | 6,779 | 4.74% | 15,794 | 6.63% |
| Asian Language** | 230 | 0.16% | 749 | 0.31% |
| Other | 391 | 0.27% | 963 | 0.40% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 143,129 | 100.00% | 238,077 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 25,362 | 60.16% |
| Other Indo-European* | 6,670 | 42.23% |
| Asian Language** | 356 | 47.53% |
| Other Language | 369 | 38.32% |
| Total | 32,757 | 13.76% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 8,864 | 51.45% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,560 | 37.76% |
| Asian Language** | 105 | 45.65% |
| Other Language | 158 | 40.41% |
| Total | 11,687 | 8.17% |
* "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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