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 | 52,639 | 95.85% | 63,494 | 92.45% |
| Spanish | 1,869 | 3.40% | 4,599 | 6.70% |
| Other Indo-European* | 294 | 0.54% | 389 | 0.57% |
| Asian Language** | 110 | 0.20% | 144 | 0.21% |
| Other | 4 | 0.01% | 53 | 0.08% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 54,916 | 100.00% | 68,679 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 2,081 | 45.25% |
| Other Indo-European* | 70 | 17.99% |
| Asian Language** | 59 | 40.97% |
| Other Language | 23 | 43.40% |
| Total | 2,233 | 3.25% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 816 | 43.66% |
| Other Indo-European* | 123 | 41.84% |
| Asian Language** | 63 | 57.27% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 1,002 | 1.82% |
* "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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