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 | 184,018 | 85.00% | 188,413 | 80.52% |
| Spanish | 13,102 | 6.05% | 22,287 | 9.52% |
| Other Indo-European* | 13,565 | 6.27% | 15,281 | 6.53% |
| Asian Language** | 4,701 | 2.17% | 6,754 | 2.89% |
| Other | 1,101 | 0.51% | 1,273 | 0.54% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 216,487 | 100.00% | 234,008 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 12,920 | 57.97% |
| Other Indo-European* | 3,665 | 23.98% |
| Asian Language** | 2,997 | 44.37% |
| Other Language | 253 | 19.87% |
| Total | 19,835 | 8.48% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 6,431 | 49.08% |
| Other Indo-European* | 3,324 | 24.50% |
| Asian Language** | 2,244 | 47.73% |
| Other Language | 261 | 23.71% |
| Total | 12,260 | 5.66% |
* "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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