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 | 43,782 | 95.90% | 46,450 | 92.99% |
| Spanish | 755 | 1.65% | 2,287 | 4.58% |
| Other Indo-European* | 657 | 1.44% | 469 | 0.94% |
| Asian Language** | 451 | 0.99% | 724 | 1.45% |
| Other | 10 | 0.02% | 19 | 0.04% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 45,655 | 100.00% | 49,949 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,062 | 46.44% |
| Other Indo-European* | 147 | 31.34% |
| Asian Language** | 489 | 67.54% |
| Other Language | 0 | 0.00% |
| Total | 1,698 | 3.40% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 250 | 33.11% |
| Other Indo-European* | 123 | 18.72% |
| Asian Language** | 287 | 63.64% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 660 | 1.45% |
* "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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