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 | 47,152 | 97.22% | 50,227 | 96.96% |
| Spanish | 347 | 0.72% | 722 | 1.39% |
| Other Indo-European* | 840 | 1.73% | 534 | 1.03% |
| Asian Language** | 113 | 0.23% | 288 | 0.56% |
| Other | 46 | 0.09% | 30 | 0.06% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 48,498 | 100.00% | 51,801 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 207 | 28.67% |
| Other Indo-European* | 118 | 22.10% |
| Asian Language** | 169 | 58.68% |
| Other Language | 8 | 26.67% |
| Total | 502 | 0.97% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 115 | 33.14% |
| Other Indo-European* | 251 | 29.88% |
| Asian Language** | 54 | 47.79% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 420 | 0.87% |
* "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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