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 | 50,403 | 94.00% | 54,841 | 91.85% |
| Spanish | 1,992 | 3.71% | 3,614 | 6.05% |
| Other Indo-European* | 924 | 1.72% | 724 | 1.21% |
| Asian Language** | 165 | 0.31% | 278 | 0.47% |
| Other | 139 | 0.26% | 248 | 0.42% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 53,623 | 100.00% | 59,705 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,809 | 50.06% |
| Other Indo-European* | 108 | 14.92% |
| Asian Language** | 93 | 33.45% |
| Other Language | 27 | 10.89% |
| Total | 2,037 | 3.41% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,057 | 53.06% |
| Other Indo-European* | 184 | 19.91% |
| Asian Language** | 69 | 41.82% |
| Other Language | 11 | 7.91% |
| Total | 1,321 | 2.46% |
* "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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