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 | 131,238 | 91.81% | 143,855 | 85.60% |
| Spanish | 2,763 | 1.93% | 13,886 | 8.26% |
| Other Indo-European* | 8,101 | 5.67% | 8,966 | 5.34% |
| Asian Language** | 676 | 0.47% | 1,148 | 0.68% |
| Other | 169 | 0.12% | 197 | 0.12% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 142,947 | 100.00% | 168,052 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 8,524 | 61.39% |
| Other Indo-European* | 3,234 | 36.07% |
| Asian Language** | 646 | 56.27% |
| Other Language | 96 | 48.73% |
| Total | 12,500 | 7.44% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,110 | 40.17% |
| Other Indo-European* | 3,130 | 38.64% |
| Asian Language** | 440 | 65.09% |
| Other Language | 46 | 27.22% |
| Total | 4,726 | 3.31% |
* "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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