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 | 207,427 | 89.95% | 224,386 | 89.05% |
| Spanish | 8,706 | 3.78% | 13,867 | 5.50% |
| Other Indo-European* | 11,623 | 5.04% | 10,004 | 3.97% |
| Asian Language** | 1,261 | 0.55% | 2,201 | 0.87% |
| Other | 1,580 | 0.69% | 1,521 | 0.60% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 230,597 | 100.00% | 251,979 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 5,576 | 40.21% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,482 | 24.81% |
| Asian Language** | 1,059 | 48.11% |
| Other Language | 362 | 23.80% |
| Total | 9,479 | 3.76% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 4,087 | 46.94% |
| Other Indo-European* | 3,553 | 30.57% |
| Asian Language** | 426 | 33.78% |
| Other Language | 575 | 36.39% |
| Total | 8,641 | 3.75% |
* "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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