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 | 89,650 | 95.32% | 92,467 | 95.44% |
| Spanish | 1,665 | 1.77% | 2,324 | 2.40% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,891 | 2.01% | 1,208 | 1.25% |
| Asian Language** | 691 | 0.73% | 838 | 0.86% |
| Other | 156 | 0.17% | 53 | 0.05% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 94,053 | 100.00% | 96,890 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,015 | 43.67% |
| Other Indo-European* | 352 | 29.14% |
| Asian Language** | 346 | 41.29% |
| Other Language | 31 | 58.49% |
| Total | 1,744 | 1.80% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 594 | 35.68% |
| Other Indo-European* | 556 | 29.40% |
| Asian Language** | 310 | 44.86% |
| Other Language | 36 | 23.08% |
| Total | 1,496 | 1.59% |
* "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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