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 | 83,302 | 93.90% | 90,696 | 93.36% |
| Spanish | 1,945 | 2.19% | 2,917 | 3.00% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,957 | 3.33% | 2,955 | 3.04% |
| Asian Language** | 428 | 0.48% | 353 | 0.36% |
| Other | 85 | 0.10% | 227 | 0.23% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 88,717 | 100.00% | 97,148 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,274 | 43.68% |
| Other Indo-European* | 863 | 29.20% |
| Asian Language** | 121 | 34.28% |
| Other Language | 73 | 32.16% |
| Total | 2,331 | 2.40% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 614 | 31.57% |
| Other Indo-European* | 782 | 26.45% |
| Asian Language** | 149 | 34.81% |
| Other Language | 38 | 44.71% |
| Total | 1,583 | 1.78% |
* "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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