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 | 70,212 | 96.50% | 81,234 | 94.55% |
| Spanish | 1,364 | 1.87% | 3,077 | 3.58% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,012 | 1.39% | 1,154 | 1.34% |
| Asian Language** | 159 | 0.22% | 402 | 0.47% |
| Other | 8 | 0.01% | 50 | 0.06% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 72,755 | 100.00% | 85,917 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,714 | 55.70% |
| Other Indo-European* | 380 | 32.93% |
| Asian Language** | 161 | 40.05% |
| Other Language | 0 | 0.00% |
| Total | 2,255 | 2.62% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 714 | 52.35% |
| Other Indo-European* | 274 | 27.08% |
| Asian Language** | 77 | 48.43% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 1,065 | 1.46% |
* "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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