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 | 73,607 | 98.13% | 72,564 | 97.80% |
| Spanish | 654 | 0.87% | 933 | 1.26% |
| Other Indo-European* | 601 | 0.80% | 428 | 0.58% |
| Asian Language** | 129 | 0.17% | 131 | 0.18% |
| Other | 22 | 0.03% | 143 | 0.19% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 75,013 | 100.00% | 74,199 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 258 | 27.65% |
| Other Indo-European* | 90 | 21.03% |
| Asian Language** | 33 | 25.19% |
| Other Language | 91 | 63.64% |
| Total | 472 | 0.64% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 267 | 40.83% |
| Other Indo-European* | 164 | 27.29% |
| Asian Language** | 19 | 14.73% |
| Other Language | 7 | 31.82% |
| Total | 457 | 0.61% |
* "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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