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 | 94,583 | 94.87% | 98,752 | 94.44% |
| Spanish | 2,406 | 2.41% | 3,790 | 3.62% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,350 | 2.36% | 1,613 | 1.54% |
| Asian Language** | 235 | 0.24% | 302 | 0.29% |
| Other | 124 | 0.12% | 114 | 0.11% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 99,698 | 100.00% | 104,571 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,516 | 40.00% |
| Other Indo-European* | 357 | 22.13% |
| Asian Language** | 157 | 51.99% |
| Other Language | 29 | 25.44% |
| Total | 2,059 | 1.97% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 931 | 38.69% |
| Other Indo-European* | 610 | 25.96% |
| Asian Language** | 93 | 39.57% |
| Other Language | 42 | 33.87% |
| Total | 1,676 | 1.68% |
* "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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