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 | 78,876 | 96.29% | 96,792 | 93.94% |
| Spanish | 1,330 | 1.62% | 3,025 | 2.94% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,005 | 1.23% | 1,419 | 1.38% |
| Asian Language** | 656 | 0.80% | 1,502 | 1.46% |
| Other | 46 | 0.06% | 295 | 0.29% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 81,913 | 100.00% | 103,033 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,304 | 43.11% |
| Other Indo-European* | 364 | 25.65% |
| Asian Language** | 645 | 42.94% |
| Other Language | 140 | 47.46% |
| Total | 2,453 | 2.38% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 392 | 29.47% |
| Other Indo-European* | 161 | 16.02% |
| Asian Language** | 337 | 51.37% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 890 | 1.09% |
* "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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