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 | 73,640 | 97.07% | 77,950 | 92.22% |
| Spanish | 1,257 | 1.66% | 4,611 | 5.46% |
| Other Indo-European* | 779 | 1.03% | 1,020 | 1.21% |
| Asian Language** | 167 | 0.22% | 579 | 0.69% |
| Other | 22 | 0.03% | 364 | 0.43% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 75,865 | 100.00% | 84,524 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 3,016 | 65.41% |
| Other Indo-European* | 375 | 36.76% |
| Asian Language** | 359 | 62.00% |
| Other Language | 114 | 31.32% |
| Total | 3,864 | 4.57% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 479 | 38.11% |
| Other Indo-European* | 275 | 35.30% |
| Asian Language** | 45 | 26.95% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 799 | 1.05% |
* "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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