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 | 72,256 | 96.01% | 104,132 | 94.69% |
| Spanish | 1,196 | 1.59% | 2,704 | 2.46% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,210 | 1.61% | 1,655 | 1.50% |
| Asian Language** | 570 | 0.76% | 1,318 | 1.20% |
| Other | 23 | 0.03% | 166 | 0.15% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 75,255 | 100.00% | 109,975 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 859 | 31.77% |
| Other Indo-European* | 394 | 23.81% |
| Asian Language** | 393 | 29.82% |
| Other Language | 23 | 13.86% |
| Total | 1,669 | 1.52% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 290 | 24.25% |
| Other Indo-European* | 330 | 27.27% |
| Asian Language** | 277 | 48.60% |
| Other Language | 9 | 39.13% |
| Total | 906 | 1.20% |
* "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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