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 | 45,638 | 96.47% | 66,690 | 95.84% |
| Spanish | 542 | 1.15% | 1,450 | 2.08% |
| Other Indo-European* | 932 | 1.97% | 946 | 1.36% |
| Asian Language** | 116 | 0.25% | 398 | 0.57% |
| Other | 82 | 0.17% | 100 | 0.14% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 47,310 | 100.00% | 69,584 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 469 | 32.34% |
| Other Indo-European* | 211 | 22.30% |
| Asian Language** | 92 | 23.12% |
| Other Language | 2 | 2.00% |
| Total | 774 | 1.11% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 115 | 21.22% |
| Other Indo-European* | 216 | 23.18% |
| Asian Language** | 33 | 28.45% |
| Other Language | 7 | 8.54% |
| Total | 371 | 0.78% |
* "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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