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 | 63,531 | 97.03% | 80,181 | 93.82% |
| Spanish | 777 | 1.19% | 2,839 | 3.32% |
| Other Indo-European* | 950 | 1.45% | 1,606 | 1.88% |
| Asian Language** | 168 | 0.26% | 475 | 0.56% |
| Other | 50 | 0.08% | 358 | 0.42% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 65,476 | 100.00% | 85,459 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,287 | 45.33% |
| Other Indo-European* | 554 | 34.50% |
| Asian Language** | 180 | 37.89% |
| Other Language | 21 | 5.87% |
| Total | 2,042 | 2.39% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 276 | 35.52% |
| Other Indo-European* | 233 | 24.53% |
| Asian Language** | 51 | 30.36% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 560 | 0.86% |
* "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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