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 | 99,019 | 94.72% | 100,287 | 94.65% |
| Spanish | 1,330 | 1.27% | 1,631 | 1.54% |
| Other Indo-European* | 3,368 | 3.22% | 3,241 | 3.06% |
| Asian Language** | 450 | 0.43% | 400 | 0.38% |
| Other | 373 | 0.36% | 398 | 0.38% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 104,540 | 100.00% | 105,957 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 564 | 34.58% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,070 | 33.01% |
| Asian Language** | 211 | 52.75% |
| Other Language | 46 | 11.56% |
| Total | 1,891 | 1.78% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 606 | 45.56% |
| Other Indo-European* | 831 | 24.67% |
| Asian Language** | 127 | 28.22% |
| Other Language | 96 | 25.74% |
| Total | 1,660 | 1.59% |
* "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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