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 | 78,587 | 94.60% | 91,396 | 93.22% |
| Spanish | 2,398 | 2.89% | 5,097 | 5.20% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,766 | 2.13% | 1,052 | 1.07% |
| Asian Language** | 247 | 0.30% | 335 | 0.34% |
| Other | 75 | 0.09% | 159 | 0.16% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 83,073 | 100.00% | 98,039 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 2,221 | 43.57% |
| Other Indo-European* | 157 | 14.92% |
| Asian Language** | 198 | 59.10% |
| Other Language | 35 | 22.01% |
| Total | 2,611 | 2.66% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 820 | 34.20% |
| Other Indo-European* | 572 | 32.39% |
| Asian Language** | 123 | 49.80% |
| Other Language | 3 | 4.00% |
| Total | 1,518 | 1.83% |
* "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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