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 | 51,126 | 97.24% | 54,963 | 95.90% |
| Spanish | 777 | 1.48% | 1,485 | 2.59% |
| Other Indo-European* | 594 | 1.13% | 636 | 1.11% |
| Asian Language** | 71 | 0.14% | 137 | 0.24% |
| Other | 8 | 0.02% | 89 | 0.16% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 52,576 | 100.00% | 57,310 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 491 | 33.06% |
| Other Indo-European* | 111 | 17.45% |
| Asian Language** | 65 | 47.45% |
| Other Language | 30 | 33.71% |
| Total | 697 | 1.22% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 335 | 43.11% |
| Other Indo-European* | 133 | 22.39% |
| Asian Language** | 22 | 30.99% |
| Other Language | 1 | 12.50% |
| Total | 491 | 0.93% |
* "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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