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 | 50,061 | 95.49% | 79,142 | 94.49% |
| Spanish | 978 | 1.87% | 2,337 | 2.79% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,000 | 1.91% | 1,366 | 1.63% |
| Asian Language** | 357 | 0.68% | 804 | 0.96% |
| Other | 30 | 0.06% | 104 | 0.12% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 52,426 | 100.00% | 83,753 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 816 | 34.92% |
| Other Indo-European* | 296 | 21.67% |
| Asian Language** | 304 | 37.81% |
| Other Language | 66 | 63.46% |
| Total | 1,482 | 1.77% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 404 | 41.31% |
| Other Indo-European* | 227 | 22.70% |
| Asian Language** | 144 | 40.34% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 775 | 1.48% |
* "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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