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 | 50,052 | 98.31% | 62,126 | 96.11% |
| Spanish | 433 | 0.85% | 1,838 | 2.84% |
| Other Indo-European* | 339 | 0.67% | 529 | 0.82% |
| Asian Language** | 81 | 0.16% | 68 | 0.11% |
| Other | 8 | 0.02% | 82 | 0.13% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 50,913 | 100.00% | 64,643 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 921 | 50.11% |
| Other Indo-European* | 111 | 20.98% |
| Asian Language** | 13 | 19.12% |
| Other Language | 53 | 64.63% |
| Total | 1,098 | 1.70% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 237 | 54.73% |
| Other Indo-European* | 67 | 19.76% |
| Asian Language** | 26 | 32.10% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 330 | 0.65% |
* "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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