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 | 136,854 | 96.39% | 161,928 | 94.82% |
| Spanish | 2,177 | 1.53% | 3,642 | 2.13% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,095 | 1.48% | 3,239 | 1.90% |
| Asian Language** | 728 | 0.51% | 1,582 | 0.93% |
| Other | 132 | 0.09% | 386 | 0.23% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 141,986 | 100.00% | 170,777 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,279 | 35.12% |
| Other Indo-European* | 965 | 29.79% |
| Asian Language** | 647 | 40.90% |
| Other Language | 204 | 52.85% |
| Total | 3,095 | 1.81% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 664 | 30.50% |
| Other Indo-European* | 686 | 32.74% |
| Asian Language** | 328 | 45.05% |
| Other Language | 65 | 49.24% |
| Total | 1,743 | 1.23% |
* "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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