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 | 153,641 | 97.87% | 178,446 | 97.08% |
| Spanish | 871 | 0.55% | 2,351 | 1.28% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,944 | 1.24% | 2,363 | 1.29% |
| Asian Language** | 411 | 0.26% | 500 | 0.27% |
| Other | 118 | 0.08% | 159 | 0.09% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 156,985 | 100.00% | 183,819 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 812 | 34.54% |
| Other Indo-European* | 656 | 27.76% |
| Asian Language** | 238 | 47.60% |
| Other Language | 45 | 28.30% |
| Total | 1,751 | 0.95% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 225 | 25.83% |
| Other Indo-European* | 578 | 29.73% |
| Asian Language** | 147 | 35.77% |
| Other Language | 24 | 20.34% |
| Total | 974 | 0.62% |
* "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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