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 | 133,366 | 92.60% | 156,669 | 87.41% |
| Spanish | 5,910 | 4.10% | 16,889 | 9.42% |
| Other Indo-European* | 3,161 | 2.19% | 3,325 | 1.86% |
| Asian Language** | 1,337 | 0.93% | 2,001 | 1.12% |
| Other | 255 | 0.18% | 354 | 0.20% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 144,029 | 100.00% | 179,238 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 7,918 | 46.88% |
| Other Indo-European* | 720 | 21.65% |
| Asian Language** | 751 | 37.53% |
| Other Language | 88 | 24.86% |
| Total | 9,477 | 5.29% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 2,002 | 33.87% |
| Other Indo-European* | 959 | 30.34% |
| Asian Language** | 677 | 50.64% |
| Other Language | 61 | 23.92% |
| Total | 3,699 | 2.57% |
* "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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