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 | 69,622 | 96.96% | 80,933 | 93.34% |
| Spanish | 622 | 0.87% | 2,514 | 2.90% |
| Other Indo-European* | 963 | 1.34% | 2,173 | 2.51% |
| Asian Language** | 498 | 0.69% | 876 | 1.01% |
| Other | 102 | 0.14% | 215 | 0.25% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 71,807 | 100.00% | 86,711 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,368 | 54.42% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,037 | 47.72% |
| Asian Language** | 470 | 53.65% |
| Other Language | 84 | 39.07% |
| Total | 2,959 | 3.41% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 129 | 20.74% |
| Other Indo-European* | 260 | 27.00% |
| Asian Language** | 321 | 64.46% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 710 | 0.99% |
* "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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