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 | 83,190 | 93.34% | 106,153 | 93.41% |
| Spanish | 1,527 | 1.71% | 3,185 | 2.80% |
| Other Indo-European* | 3,797 | 4.26% | 3,258 | 2.87% |
| Asian Language** | 379 | 0.43% | 787 | 0.69% |
| Other | 236 | 0.26% | 265 | 0.23% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 89,129 | 100.00% | 113,648 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,223 | 38.40% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,105 | 33.92% |
| Asian Language** | 301 | 38.25% |
| Other Language | 61 | 23.02% |
| Total | 2,690 | 2.37% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 490 | 32.09% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,050 | 27.65% |
| Asian Language** | 127 | 33.51% |
| Other Language | 76 | 32.20% |
| Total | 1,743 | 1.96% |
* "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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