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 | 70,886 | 97.80% | 82,156 | 96.06% |
| Spanish | 886 | 1.22% | 1,956 | 2.29% |
| Other Indo-European* | 524 | 0.72% | 744 | 0.87% |
| Asian Language** | 159 | 0.22% | 528 | 0.62% |
| Other | 22 | 0.03% | 143 | 0.17% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 72,477 | 100.00% | 85,527 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 904 | 46.22% |
| Other Indo-European* | 208 | 27.96% |
| Asian Language** | 218 | 41.29% |
| Other Language | 23 | 16.08% |
| Total | 1,353 | 1.58% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 326 | 36.79% |
| Other Indo-European* | 137 | 26.15% |
| Asian Language** | 126 | 79.25% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 589 | 0.81% |
* "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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