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 | 98,971 | 95.34% | 98,294 | 95.00% |
| Spanish | 1,855 | 1.79% | 2,388 | 2.31% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,695 | 2.60% | 2,303 | 2.23% |
| Asian Language** | 162 | 0.16% | 393 | 0.38% |
| Other | 123 | 0.12% | 89 | 0.09% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 103,806 | 100.00% | 103,467 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 708 | 29.65% |
| Other Indo-European* | 584 | 25.36% |
| Asian Language** | 212 | 53.94% |
| Other Language | 2 | 2.25% |
| Total | 1,506 | 1.46% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 465 | 25.07% |
| Other Indo-European* | 806 | 29.91% |
| Asian Language** | 75 | 46.30% |
| Other Language | 22 | 17.89% |
| Total | 1,368 | 1.32% |
* "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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