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 | 46,064 | 97.12% | 45,441 | 96.79% |
| Spanish | 466 | 0.98% | 863 | 1.84% |
| Other Indo-European* | 752 | 1.59% | 501 | 1.07% |
| Asian Language** | 106 | 0.22% | 133 | 0.28% |
| Other | 42 | 0.09% | 11 | 0.02% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 47,430 | 100.00% | 46,949 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 328 | 38.01% |
| Other Indo-European* | 146 | 29.14% |
| Asian Language** | 49 | 36.84% |
| Other Language | 0 | 0.00% |
| Total | 523 | 1.11% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 122 | 26.18% |
| Other Indo-European* | 191 | 25.40% |
| Asian Language** | 64 | 60.38% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 377 | 0.79% |
* "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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