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 | 75,694 | 97.27% | 104,308 | 91.72% |
| Spanish | 1,046 | 1.34% | 7,359 | 6.47% |
| Other Indo-European* | 998 | 1.28% | 1,481 | 1.30% |
| Asian Language** | 68 | 0.09% | 339 | 0.30% |
| Other | 16 | 0.02% | 235 | 0.21% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 77,822 | 100.00% | 113,722 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 5,015 | 68.15% |
| Other Indo-European* | 273 | 18.43% |
| Asian Language** | 175 | 51.62% |
| Other Language | 112 | 47.66% |
| Total | 5,575 | 4.90% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 372 | 35.56% |
| Other Indo-European* | 236 | 23.65% |
| Asian Language** | 31 | 45.59% |
| Other Language | 16 | 100.00% |
| Total | 655 | 0.84% |
* "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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