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 | 93,408 | 97.70% | 94,369 | 97.49% |
| Spanish | 718 | 0.75% | 1,150 | 1.19% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,184 | 1.24% | 887 | 0.92% |
| Asian Language** | 186 | 0.19% | 344 | 0.36% |
| Other | 108 | 0.11% | 52 | 0.05% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 95,604 | 100.00% | 96,802 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 374 | 32.52% |
| Other Indo-European* | 178 | 20.07% |
| Asian Language** | 184 | 53.49% |
| Other Language | 0 | 0.00% |
| Total | 736 | 0.76% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 196 | 27.30% |
| Other Indo-European* | 352 | 29.73% |
| Asian Language** | 39 | 20.97% |
| Other Language | 13 | 12.04% |
| Total | 600 | 0.63% |
* "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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