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 | 43,534 | 91.98% | 49,641 | 89.84% |
| Spanish | 2,464 | 5.21% | 4,274 | 7.74% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,111 | 2.35% | 929 | 1.68% |
| Asian Language** | 118 | 0.25% | 336 | 0.61% |
| Other | 102 | 0.22% | 75 | 0.14% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 47,329 | 100.00% | 55,255 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,986 | 46.47% |
| Other Indo-European* | 244 | 26.26% |
| Asian Language** | 177 | 52.68% |
| Other Language | 24 | 32.00% |
| Total | 2,431 | 4.40% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,003 | 40.71% |
| Other Indo-European* | 279 | 25.11% |
| Asian Language** | 27 | 22.88% |
| Other Language | 30 | 29.41% |
| Total | 1,339 | 2.83% |
* "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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