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 | 70,305 | 91.67% | 86,424 | 91.54% |
| Spanish | 1,779 | 2.32% | 2,436 | 2.58% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,883 | 2.46% | 2,333 | 2.47% |
| Asian Language** | 2,030 | 2.65% | 2,357 | 2.50% |
| Other | 697 | 0.91% | 861 | 0.91% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 76,694 | 100.00% | 94,411 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 717 | 29.43% |
| Other Indo-European* | 422 | 18.09% |
| Asian Language** | 1,180 | 50.06% |
| Other Language | 287 | 33.33% |
| Total | 2,606 | 2.76% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 479 | 26.93% |
| Other Indo-European* | 431 | 22.89% |
| Asian Language** | 1,259 | 62.02% |
| Other Language | 240 | 34.43% |
| Total | 2,409 | 3.14% |
* "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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