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 | 99,798 | 96.59% | 107,007 | 95.82% |
| Spanish | 1,937 | 1.87% | 2,647 | 2.37% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,048 | 1.01% | 1,113 | 1.00% |
| Asian Language** | 429 | 0.42% | 746 | 0.67% |
| Other | 112 | 0.11% | 164 | 0.15% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 103,324 | 100.00% | 111,677 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 966 | 36.49% |
| Other Indo-European* | 311 | 27.94% |
| Asian Language** | 380 | 50.94% |
| Other Language | 20 | 12.20% |
| Total | 1,677 | 1.50% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 700 | 36.14% |
| Other Indo-European* | 425 | 40.55% |
| Asian Language** | 192 | 44.76% |
| Other Language | 26 | 23.21% |
| Total | 1,343 | 1.30% |
* "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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