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 | 146,641 | 90.97% | 149,387 | 88.24% |
| Spanish | 3,174 | 1.97% | 4,913 | 2.90% |
| Other Indo-European* | 5,227 | 3.24% | 5,817 | 3.44% |
| Asian Language** | 5,286 | 3.28% | 7,994 | 4.72% |
| Other | 875 | 0.54% | 1,190 | 0.70% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 161,203 | 100.00% | 169,301 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,807 | 36.78% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,116 | 19.19% |
| Asian Language** | 3,470 | 43.41% |
| Other Language | 400 | 33.61% |
| Total | 6,793 | 4.01% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 889 | 28.01% |
| Other Indo-European* | 925 | 17.70% |
| Asian Language** | 2,436 | 46.08% |
| Other Language | 166 | 18.97% |
| Total | 4,416 | 2.74% |
* "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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