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 | 191,765 | 77.83% | 185,673 | 70.06% |
| Spanish | 13,564 | 5.51% | 24,218 | 9.14% |
| Other Indo-European* | 31,904 | 12.95% | 39,869 | 15.04% |
| Asian Language** | 6,314 | 2.56% | 10,343 | 3.90% |
| Other | 2,847 | 1.16% | 4,899 | 1.85% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 246,394 | 100.00% | 265,002 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 11,391 | 47.04% |
| Other Indo-European* | 16,382 | 41.09% |
| Asian Language** | 3,820 | 36.93% |
| Other Language | 1,337 | 27.29% |
| Total | 32,930 | 12.43% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 5,955 | 43.90% |
| Other Indo-European* | 12,885 | 40.39% |
| Asian Language** | 2,996 | 47.45% |
| Other Language | 701 | 24.62% |
| Total | 22,537 | 9.15% |
* "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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