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 | 47,533 | 98.37% | 50,428 | 97.66% |
| Spanish | 486 | 1.01% | 800 | 1.55% |
| Other Indo-European* | 278 | 0.58% | 249 | 0.48% |
| Asian Language** | 26 | 0.05% | 134 | 0.26% |
| Other | 0 | 0.00% | 26 | 0.05% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 48,323 | 100.00% | 51,637 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 329 | 41.13% |
| Other Indo-European* | 33 | 13.25% |
| Asian Language** | 76 | 56.72% |
| Other Language | 11 | 42.31% |
| Total | 449 | 0.87% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 192 | 39.51% |
| Other Indo-European* | 73 | 26.26% |
| Asian Language** | 0 | - |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 265 | 0.55% |
* "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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