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 | 94,091 | 97.67% | 110,425 | 96.73% |
| Spanish | 821 | 0.85% | 1,712 | 1.50% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,120 | 1.16% | 1,418 | 1.24% |
| Asian Language** | 216 | 0.22% | 479 | 0.42% |
| Other | 90 | 0.09% | 128 | 0.11% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 96,338 | 100.00% | 114,162 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 540 | 31.54% |
| Other Indo-European* | 373 | 26.30% |
| Asian Language** | 215 | 44.89% |
| Other Language | 27 | 21.09% |
| Total | 1,155 | 1.01% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 292 | 35.57% |
| Other Indo-European* | 250 | 22.32% |
| Asian Language** | 95 | 43.98% |
| Other Language | 41 | 45.56% |
| Total | 678 | 0.70% |
* "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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