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 | 87,190 | 94.26% | 91,085 | 94.88% |
| Spanish | 1,373 | 1.48% | 2,292 | 2.39% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,980 | 3.22% | 2,229 | 2.32% |
| Asian Language** | 314 | 0.34% | 122 | 0.13% |
| Other | 641 | 0.69% | 277 | 0.29% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 92,498 | 100.00% | 96,005 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,019 | 44.46% |
| Other Indo-European* | 715 | 32.08% |
| Asian Language** | 54 | 44.26% |
| Other Language | 86 | 31.05% |
| Total | 1,874 | 1.95% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 668 | 48.65% |
| Other Indo-European* | 869 | 29.16% |
| Asian Language** | 160 | 50.96% |
| Other Language | 223 | 34.79% |
| Total | 1,920 | 2.08% |
* "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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