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 | 79,474 | 97.01% | 119,438 | 91.95% |
| Spanish | 1,310 | 1.60% | 6,737 | 5.19% |
| Other Indo-European* | 850 | 1.04% | 2,367 | 1.82% |
| Asian Language** | 194 | 0.24% | 922 | 0.71% |
| Other | 96 | 0.12% | 424 | 0.33% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 81,924 | 100.00% | 129,888 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 3,897 | 57.84% |
| Other Indo-European* | 526 | 22.22% |
| Asian Language** | 430 | 46.64% |
| Other Language | 122 | 28.77% |
| Total | 4,975 | 3.83% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 290 | 22.14% |
| Other Indo-European* | 218 | 25.65% |
| Asian Language** | 68 | 35.05% |
| Other Language | 36 | 37.50% |
| Total | 612 | 0.75% |
* "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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