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 | 108,301 | 95.48% | 133,098 | 94.72% |
| Spanish | 829 | 0.73% | 1,682 | 1.20% |
| Other Indo-European* | 3,526 | 3.11% | 4,769 | 3.39% |
| Asian Language** | 315 | 0.28% | 538 | 0.38% |
| Other | 455 | 0.40% | 425 | 0.30% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 113,426 | 100.00% | 140,512 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 406 | 24.14% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,557 | 32.65% |
| Asian Language** | 181 | 33.64% |
| Other Language | 149 | 35.06% |
| Total | 2,293 | 1.63% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 261 | 31.48% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,343 | 38.09% |
| Asian Language** | 113 | 35.87% |
| Other Language | 175 | 38.46% |
| Total | 1,892 | 1.67% |
* "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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