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 | 41,077 | 91.23% | 48,445 | 93.17% |
| Spanish | 3,514 | 7.80% | 3,123 | 6.01% |
| Other Indo-European* | 303 | 0.67% | 274 | 0.53% |
| Asian Language** | 71 | 0.16% | 145 | 0.28% |
| Other | 63 | 0.14% | 8 | 0.02% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 45,028 | 100.00% | 51,995 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,327 | 42.49% |
| Other Indo-European* | 93 | 33.94% |
| Asian Language** | 76 | 52.41% |
| Other Language | 0 | 0.00% |
| Total | 1,496 | 2.88% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,474 | 41.95% |
| Other Indo-European* | 102 | 33.66% |
| Asian Language** | 37 | 52.11% |
| Other Language | 5 | 7.94% |
| Total | 1,618 | 3.59% |
* "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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