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 | 56,608 | 95.21% | 58,923 | 93.60% |
| Spanish | 924 | 1.55% | 2,434 | 3.87% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,190 | 2.00% | 817 | 1.30% |
| Asian Language** | 417 | 0.70% | 630 | 1.00% |
| Other | 314 | 0.53% | 151 | 0.24% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 59,453 | 100.00% | 62,955 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,360 | 55.88% |
| Other Indo-European* | 211 | 25.83% |
| Asian Language** | 360 | 57.14% |
| Other Language | 18 | 11.92% |
| Total | 1,949 | 3.10% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 286 | 30.95% |
| Other Indo-European* | 252 | 21.18% |
| Asian Language** | 187 | 44.84% |
| Other Language | 55 | 17.52% |
| Total | 780 | 1.31% |
* "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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