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 | 101,240 | 77.18% | 107,131 | 67.89% |
| Spanish | 17,877 | 13.63% | 30,577 | 19.38% |
| Other Indo-European* | 4,950 | 3.77% | 9,191 | 5.82% |
| Asian Language** | 6,656 | 5.07% | 9,808 | 6.22% |
| Other | 444 | 0.34% | 1,085 | 0.69% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 131,167 | 100.00% | 157,792 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 15,443 | 50.51% |
| Other Indo-European* | 4,081 | 44.40% |
| Asian Language** | 3,888 | 39.64% |
| Other Language | 267 | 24.61% |
| Total | 23,679 | 15.01% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 8,107 | 45.35% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,281 | 25.88% |
| Asian Language** | 3,355 | 50.41% |
| Other Language | 162 | 36.49% |
| Total | 12,905 | 9.84% |
* "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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