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 | 88,479 | 95.49% | 106,185 | 94.88% |
| Spanish | 1,507 | 1.63% | 2,329 | 2.08% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,840 | 1.99% | 1,837 | 1.64% |
| Asian Language** | 735 | 0.79% | 1,224 | 1.09% |
| Other | 97 | 0.10% | 341 | 0.30% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 92,658 | 100.00% | 111,916 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 768 | 32.98% |
| Other Indo-European* | 539 | 29.34% |
| Asian Language** | 550 | 44.93% |
| Other Language | 71 | 20.82% |
| Total | 1,928 | 1.72% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 285 | 18.91% |
| Other Indo-European* | 443 | 24.08% |
| Asian Language** | 240 | 32.65% |
| Other Language | 4 | 4.12% |
| Total | 972 | 1.05% |
* "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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