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 | 79,361 | 97.73% | 103,357 | 96.36% |
| Spanish | 841 | 1.04% | 2,389 | 2.23% |
| Other Indo-European* | 753 | 0.93% | 922 | 0.86% |
| Asian Language** | 209 | 0.26% | 415 | 0.39% |
| Other | 44 | 0.05% | 182 | 0.17% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 81,208 | 100.00% | 107,265 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 863 | 36.12% |
| Other Indo-European* | 194 | 21.04% |
| Asian Language** | 173 | 41.69% |
| Other Language | 28 | 15.38% |
| Total | 1,258 | 1.17% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 370 | 44.00% |
| Other Indo-European* | 210 | 27.89% |
| Asian Language** | 73 | 34.93% |
| Other Language | 14 | 31.82% |
| Total | 667 | 0.82% |
* "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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