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 | 80,128 | 95.69% | 87,199 | 95.20% |
| Spanish | 999 | 1.19% | 1,954 | 2.13% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,300 | 2.75% | 1,758 | 1.92% |
| Asian Language** | 264 | 0.32% | 539 | 0.59% |
| Other | 50 | 0.06% | 146 | 0.16% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 83,741 | 100.00% | 91,596 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 760 | 38.89% |
| Other Indo-European* | 484 | 27.53% |
| Asian Language** | 224 | 41.56% |
| Other Language | 19 | 13.01% |
| Total | 1,487 | 1.62% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 278 | 27.83% |
| Other Indo-European* | 609 | 26.48% |
| Asian Language** | 152 | 57.58% |
| Other Language | 11 | 22.00% |
| Total | 1,050 | 1.25% |
* "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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