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 | 50,490 | 98.44% | 56,131 | 93.43% |
| Spanish | 553 | 1.08% | 3,319 | 5.52% |
| Other Indo-European* | 209 | 0.41% | 463 | 0.77% |
| Asian Language** | 31 | 0.06% | 117 | 0.19% |
| Other | 5 | 0.01% | 48 | 0.08% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 51,288 | 100.00% | 60,078 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 2,398 | 72.25% |
| Other Indo-European* | 107 | 23.11% |
| Asian Language** | 23 | 19.66% |
| Other Language | 9 | 18.75% |
| Total | 2,537 | 4.22% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 138 | 24.95% |
| Other Indo-European* | 86 | 41.15% |
| Asian Language** | 7 | 22.58% |
| Other Language | 3 | 60.00% |
| Total | 234 | 0.46% |
* "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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