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 | 79,560 | 98.45% | 82,552 | 96.76% |
| Spanish | 573 | 0.71% | 1,505 | 1.76% |
| Other Indo-European* | 589 | 0.73% | 1,064 | 1.25% |
| Asian Language** | 44 | 0.05% | 134 | 0.16% |
| Other | 43 | 0.05% | 59 | 0.07% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 80,809 | 100.00% | 85,314 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 749 | 49.77% |
| Other Indo-European* | 245 | 23.03% |
| Asian Language** | 66 | 49.25% |
| Other Language | 0 | 0.00% |
| Total | 1,060 | 1.24% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 214 | 37.35% |
| Other Indo-European* | 200 | 33.96% |
| Asian Language** | 17 | 38.64% |
| Other Language | 7 | 16.28% |
| Total | 438 | 0.54% |
* "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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