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 | 84,957 | 96.63% | 91,037 | 96.08% |
| Spanish | 1,500 | 1.71% | 2,105 | 2.22% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,061 | 1.21% | 1,012 | 1.07% |
| Asian Language** | 302 | 0.34% | 405 | 0.43% |
| Other | 97 | 0.11% | 189 | 0.20% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 87,917 | 100.00% | 94,748 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 755 | 35.87% |
| Other Indo-European* | 147 | 14.53% |
| Asian Language** | 141 | 34.81% |
| Other Language | 55 | 29.10% |
| Total | 1,098 | 1.16% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 548 | 36.53% |
| Other Indo-European* | 255 | 24.03% |
| Asian Language** | 94 | 31.13% |
| Other Language | 6 | 6.19% |
| Total | 903 | 1.03% |
* "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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