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 | 228,141 | 91.35% | 248,238 | 89.15% |
| Spanish | 10,551 | 4.22% | 16,536 | 5.94% |
| Other Indo-European* | 6,962 | 2.79% | 7,916 | 2.84% |
| Asian Language** | 3,734 | 1.50% | 5,040 | 1.81% |
| Other | 346 | 0.14% | 729 | 0.26% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 249,734 | 100.00% | 278,459 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 5,473 | 33.10% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,829 | 23.11% |
| Asian Language** | 2,300 | 45.63% |
| Other Language | 200 | 27.43% |
| Total | 9,802 | 3.52% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 2,979 | 28.23% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,763 | 25.32% |
| Asian Language** | 1,610 | 43.12% |
| Other Language | 52 | 15.03% |
| Total | 6,404 | 2.56% |
* "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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