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 | 160,853 | 93.09% | 216,318 | 91.53% |
| Spanish | 6,172 | 3.57% | 12,401 | 5.25% |
| Other Indo-European* | 3,603 | 2.09% | 4,652 | 1.97% |
| Asian Language** | 1,483 | 0.86% | 2,067 | 0.87% |
| Other | 681 | 0.39% | 888 | 0.38% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 172,792 | 100.00% | 236,326 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 4,477 | 36.10% |
| Other Indo-European* | 982 | 21.11% |
| Asian Language** | 1,013 | 49.01% |
| Other Language | 211 | 23.76% |
| Total | 6,683 | 2.83% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,819 | 29.47% |
| Other Indo-European* | 900 | 24.98% |
| Asian Language** | 623 | 42.01% |
| Other Language | 331 | 48.60% |
| Total | 3,673 | 2.13% |
* "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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