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 | 73,468 | 96.78% | 78,919 | 94.53% |
| Spanish | 1,631 | 2.15% | 3,524 | 4.22% |
| Other Indo-European* | 506 | 0.67% | 621 | 0.74% |
| Asian Language** | 229 | 0.30% | 347 | 0.42% |
| Other | 75 | 0.10% | 76 | 0.09% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 75,909 | 100.00% | 83,487 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 910 | 25.82% |
| Other Indo-European* | 191 | 30.76% |
| Asian Language** | 79 | 22.77% |
| Other Language | 41 | 53.95% |
| Total | 1,221 | 1.46% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 606 | 37.16% |
| Other Indo-European* | 159 | 31.42% |
| Asian Language** | 89 | 38.86% |
| Other Language | 33 | 44.00% |
| Total | 887 | 1.17% |
* "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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