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 | 59,802 | 97.11% | 62,414 | 97.45% |
| Spanish | 725 | 1.18% | 820 | 1.28% |
| Other Indo-European* | 832 | 1.35% | 621 | 0.97% |
| Asian Language** | 212 | 0.34% | 170 | 0.27% |
| Other | 10 | 0.02% | 21 | 0.03% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 61,581 | 100.00% | 64,046 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 347 | 42.32% |
| Other Indo-European* | 159 | 25.60% |
| Asian Language** | 54 | 31.76% |
| Other Language | 0 | 0.00% |
| Total | 560 | 0.87% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 165 | 22.76% |
| Other Indo-European* | 233 | 28.00% |
| Asian Language** | 129 | 60.85% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 527 | 0.86% |
* "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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