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 | 57,703 | 73.15% | 65,775 | 78.53% |
| Spanish | 535 | 0.68% | 1,263 | 1.51% |
| Other Indo-European* | 20,252 | 25.67% | 16,347 | 19.52% |
| Asian Language** | 395 | 0.50% | 346 | 0.41% |
| Other | 0 | 0.00% | 23 | 0.03% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 78,885 | 100.00% | 83,754 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 545 | 43.15% |
| Other Indo-European* | 4,008 | 24.52% |
| Asian Language** | 202 | 58.38% |
| Other Language | 0 | 0.00% |
| Total | 4,755 | 5.68% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 191 | 35.70% |
| Other Indo-European* | 6,047 | 29.86% |
| Asian Language** | 223 | 56.46% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 6,461 | 8.19% |
* "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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