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 | 100,442 | 97.34% | 114,644 | 94.17% |
| Spanish | 1,315 | 1.27% | 5,170 | 4.25% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,153 | 1.12% | 1,231 | 1.01% |
| Asian Language** | 233 | 0.23% | 576 | 0.47% |
| Other | 39 | 0.04% | 124 | 0.10% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 103,182 | 100.00% | 121,745 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 3,224 | 62.36% |
| Other Indo-European* | 380 | 30.87% |
| Asian Language** | 361 | 62.67% |
| Other Language | 24 | 19.35% |
| Total | 3,989 | 3.28% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 506 | 38.48% |
| Other Indo-European* | 354 | 30.70% |
| Asian Language** | 117 | 50.21% |
| Other Language | 9 | 23.08% |
| Total | 986 | 0.96% |
* "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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