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 | 62,278 | 97.19% | 64,850 | 96.40% |
| Spanish | 572 | 0.89% | 1,171 | 1.74% |
| Other Indo-European* | 760 | 1.19% | 780 | 1.16% |
| Asian Language** | 399 | 0.62% | 431 | 0.64% |
| Other | 67 | 0.10% | 42 | 0.06% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 64,076 | 100.00% | 67,274 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 450 | 38.43% |
| Other Indo-European* | 319 | 40.90% |
| Asian Language** | 252 | 58.47% |
| Other Language | 0 | 0.00% |
| Total | 1,021 | 1.52% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 278 | 48.60% |
| Other Indo-European* | 136 | 17.89% |
| Asian Language** | 208 | 52.13% |
| Other Language | 30 | 44.78% |
| Total | 652 | 1.02% |
* "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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