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 | 115,253 | 94.90% | 111,804 | 95.14% |
| Spanish | 1,135 | 0.93% | 1,666 | 1.42% |
| Other Indo-European* | 4,169 | 3.43% | 2,941 | 2.50% |
| Asian Language** | 758 | 0.62% | 789 | 0.67% |
| Other | 136 | 0.11% | 315 | 0.27% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 121,451 | 100.00% | 117,515 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 611 | 36.67% |
| Other Indo-European* | 758 | 25.77% |
| Asian Language** | 439 | 55.64% |
| Other Language | 94 | 29.84% |
| Total | 1,902 | 1.62% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 376 | 33.13% |
| Other Indo-European* | 982 | 23.55% |
| Asian Language** | 418 | 55.15% |
| Other Language | 43 | 31.62% |
| Total | 1,819 | 1.50% |
* "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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