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 | 72,725 | 92.60% | 130,316 | 85.01% |
| Spanish | 1,930 | 2.46% | 9,398 | 6.13% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,408 | 3.07% | 7,090 | 4.63% |
| Asian Language** | 1,296 | 1.65% | 5,226 | 3.41% |
| Other | 176 | 0.22% | 1,263 | 0.82% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 78,535 | 100.00% | 153,293 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 4,431 | 47.15% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,636 | 23.07% |
| Asian Language** | 2,308 | 44.16% |
| Other Language | 397 | 31.43% |
| Total | 8,772 | 5.72% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 597 | 30.93% |
| Other Indo-European* | 681 | 28.28% |
| Asian Language** | 719 | 55.48% |
| Other Language | 56 | 31.82% |
| Total | 2,053 | 2.61% |
* "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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