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 | 68,929 | 97.64% | 69,246 | 97.24% |
| Spanish | 494 | 0.70% | 958 | 1.35% |
| Other Indo-European* | 929 | 1.32% | 704 | 0.99% |
| Asian Language** | 134 | 0.19% | 267 | 0.37% |
| Other | 108 | 0.15% | 40 | 0.06% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 70,594 | 100.00% | 71,215 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 324 | 33.82% |
| Other Indo-European* | 134 | 19.03% |
| Asian Language** | 127 | 47.57% |
| Other Language | 0 | 0.00% |
| Total | 585 | 0.82% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 153 | 30.97% |
| Other Indo-European* | 242 | 26.05% |
| Asian Language** | 27 | 20.15% |
| Other Language | 13 | 12.04% |
| Total | 435 | 0.62% |
* "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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