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 | 50,342 | 95.18% | 57,381 | 93.74% |
| Spanish | 717 | 1.36% | 1,971 | 3.22% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,119 | 2.12% | 902 | 1.47% |
| Asian Language** | 477 | 0.90% | 556 | 0.91% |
| Other | 237 | 0.45% | 401 | 0.66% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 52,892 | 100.00% | 61,211 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 900 | 45.66% |
| Other Indo-European* | 198 | 21.95% |
| Asian Language** | 257 | 46.22% |
| Other Language | 57 | 14.21% |
| Total | 1,412 | 2.31% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 277 | 38.63% |
| Other Indo-European* | 329 | 29.40% |
| Asian Language** | 208 | 43.61% |
| Other Language | 70 | 29.54% |
| Total | 884 | 1.67% |
* "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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