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 | 125,577 | 96.24% | 138,914 | 94.26% |
| Spanish | 1,150 | 0.88% | 3,678 | 2.50% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,548 | 1.95% | 2,525 | 1.71% |
| Asian Language** | 1,092 | 0.84% | 2,058 | 1.40% |
| Other | 116 | 0.09% | 193 | 0.13% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 130,483 | 100.00% | 147,368 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,437 | 39.07% |
| Other Indo-European* | 665 | 26.34% |
| Asian Language** | 1,117 | 54.28% |
| Other Language | 44 | 22.80% |
| Total | 3,263 | 2.21% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 376 | 32.70% |
| Other Indo-European* | 641 | 25.16% |
| Asian Language** | 716 | 65.57% |
| Other Language | 48 | 41.38% |
| Total | 1,781 | 1.36% |
* "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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