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 | 95,322 | 93.56% | 108,274 | 92.10% |
| Spanish | 2,228 | 2.19% | 3,861 | 3.28% |
| Other Indo-European* | 3,400 | 3.34% | 3,759 | 3.20% |
| Asian Language** | 798 | 0.78% | 1,404 | 1.19% |
| Other | 140 | 0.14% | 264 | 0.22% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 101,888 | 100.00% | 117,562 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,533 | 39.70% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,268 | 33.73% |
| Asian Language** | 710 | 50.57% |
| Other Language | 32 | 12.12% |
| Total | 3,543 | 3.01% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 908 | 40.75% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,363 | 40.09% |
| Asian Language** | 292 | 36.59% |
| Other Language | 30 | 21.43% |
| Total | 2,593 | 2.54% |
* "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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