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 | 162,082 | 95.31% | 160,741 | 94.04% |
| Spanish | 2,614 | 1.54% | 3,969 | 2.32% |
| Other Indo-European* | 3,787 | 2.23% | 3,444 | 2.01% |
| Asian Language** | 1,040 | 0.61% | 1,720 | 1.01% |
| Other | 543 | 0.32% | 1,052 | 0.62% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 170,066 | 100.00% | 170,926 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,510 | 38.04% |
| Other Indo-European* | 853 | 24.77% |
| Asian Language** | 788 | 45.81% |
| Other Language | 265 | 25.19% |
| Total | 3,416 | 2.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 939 | 35.92% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,110 | 29.31% |
| Asian Language** | 590 | 56.73% |
| Other Language | 174 | 32.04% |
| Total | 2,813 | 1.65% |
* "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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