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 | 217,590 | 93.11% | 233,038 | 90.04% |
| Spanish | 6,533 | 2.80% | 15,060 | 5.82% |
| Other Indo-European* | 7,205 | 3.08% | 6,937 | 2.68% |
| Asian Language** | 2,139 | 0.92% | 3,330 | 1.29% |
| Other | 231 | 0.10% | 465 | 0.18% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 233,698 | 100.00% | 258,830 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 7,341 | 48.75% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,335 | 33.66% |
| Asian Language** | 1,783 | 53.54% |
| Other Language | 131 | 28.17% |
| Total | 11,590 | 4.48% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 2,403 | 36.78% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,029 | 28.16% |
| Asian Language** | 1,218 | 56.94% |
| Other Language | 47 | 20.35% |
| Total | 5,697 | 2.44% |
* "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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