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 | 63,035 | 96.29% | 77,570 | 92.04% |
| Spanish | 986 | 1.51% | 4,822 | 5.72% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,112 | 1.70% | 1,363 | 1.62% |
| Asian Language** | 292 | 0.45% | 332 | 0.39% |
| Other | 39 | 0.06% | 196 | 0.23% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 65,464 | 100.00% | 84,283 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 3,065 | 63.56% |
| Other Indo-European* | 339 | 24.87% |
| Asian Language** | 149 | 44.88% |
| Other Language | 30 | 15.31% |
| Total | 3,583 | 4.25% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 357 | 36.21% |
| Other Indo-European* | 320 | 28.78% |
| Asian Language** | 141 | 48.29% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 818 | 1.25% |
* "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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