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 | 55,987 | 93.48% | 59,846 | 93.69% |
| Spanish | 1,676 | 2.80% | 1,879 | 2.94% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,447 | 2.42% | 1,401 | 2.19% |
| Asian Language** | 620 | 1.04% | 615 | 0.96% |
| Other | 165 | 0.28% | 134 | 0.21% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 59,895 | 100.00% | 63,875 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 556 | 29.59% |
| Other Indo-European* | 410 | 29.26% |
| Asian Language** | 275 | 44.72% |
| Other Language | 34 | 25.37% |
| Total | 1,275 | 2.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 461 | 27.51% |
| Other Indo-European* | 302 | 20.87% |
| Asian Language** | 197 | 31.77% |
| Other Language | 80 | 48.48% |
| Total | 1,040 | 1.74% |
* "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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