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 | 50,076 | 97.48% | 66,274 | 94.46% |
| Spanish | 519 | 1.01% | 3,029 | 4.32% |
| Other Indo-European* | 576 | 1.12% | 455 | 0.65% |
| Asian Language** | 109 | 0.21% | 317 | 0.45% |
| Other | 91 | 0.18% | 83 | 0.12% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 51,371 | 100.00% | 70,158 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,631 | 53.85% |
| Other Indo-European* | 117 | 25.71% |
| Asian Language** | 157 | 49.53% |
| Other Language | 24 | 28.92% |
| Total | 1,929 | 2.75% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 231 | 44.51% |
| Other Indo-European* | 165 | 28.65% |
| Asian Language** | 46 | 42.20% |
| Other Language | 7 | 7.69% |
| Total | 449 | 0.87% |
* "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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