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 | 89,318 | 97.53% | 126,636 | 96.04% |
| Spanish | 970 | 1.06% | 2,989 | 2.27% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,175 | 1.28% | 1,816 | 1.38% |
| Asian Language** | 92 | 0.10% | 339 | 0.26% |
| Other | 24 | 0.03% | 82 | 0.06% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 91,579 | 100.00% | 131,862 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,114 | 37.27% |
| Other Indo-European* | 392 | 21.59% |
| Asian Language** | 186 | 54.87% |
| Other Language | 32 | 39.02% |
| Total | 1,724 | 1.31% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 270 | 27.84% |
| Other Indo-European* | 228 | 19.40% |
| Asian Language** | 46 | 50.00% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 544 | 0.59% |
* "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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