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 | 48,239 | 97.66% | 77,496 | 94.37% |
| Spanish | 484 | 0.98% | 3,011 | 3.67% |
| Other Indo-European* | 576 | 1.17% | 1,177 | 1.43% |
| Asian Language** | 91 | 0.18% | 318 | 0.39% |
| Other | 5 | 0.01% | 115 | 0.14% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 49,395 | 100.00% | 82,117 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,748 | 58.05% |
| Other Indo-European* | 347 | 29.48% |
| Asian Language** | 105 | 33.02% |
| Other Language | 36 | 31.30% |
| Total | 2,236 | 2.72% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 167 | 34.50% |
| Other Indo-European* | 183 | 31.77% |
| Asian Language** | 45 | 49.45% |
| Other Language | 5 | 100.00% |
| Total | 400 | 0.81% |
* "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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