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 | 59,543 | 96.80% | 58,012 | 94.43% |
| Spanish | 595 | 0.97% | 1,538 | 2.50% |
| Other Indo-European* | 927 | 1.51% | 1,259 | 2.05% |
| Asian Language** | 376 | 0.61% | 488 | 0.79% |
| Other | 70 | 0.11% | 136 | 0.22% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 61,511 | 100.00% | 61,433 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 438 | 28.48% |
| Other Indo-European* | 396 | 31.45% |
| Asian Language** | 269 | 55.12% |
| Other Language | 65 | 47.79% |
| Total | 1,168 | 1.90% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 202 | 33.95% |
| Other Indo-European* | 237 | 25.57% |
| Asian Language** | 178 | 47.34% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 617 | 1.00% |
* "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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