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 | 67,788 | 92.81% | 75,010 | 89.97% |
| Spanish | 1,631 | 2.23% | 4,669 | 5.60% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,344 | 3.21% | 2,284 | 2.74% |
| Asian Language** | 912 | 1.25% | 1,028 | 1.23% |
| Other | 362 | 0.50% | 379 | 0.45% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 73,037 | 100.00% | 83,370 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 2,103 | 45.04% |
| Other Indo-European* | 515 | 22.55% |
| Asian Language** | 413 | 40.18% |
| Other Language | 80 | 21.11% |
| Total | 3,111 | 3.73% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 683 | 41.88% |
| Other Indo-European* | 418 | 17.83% |
| Asian Language** | 446 | 48.90% |
| Other Language | 31 | 8.56% |
| Total | 1,578 | 2.16% |
* "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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