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 | 79,751 | 96.89% | 74,986 | 95.69% |
| Spanish | 1,158 | 1.41% | 2,165 | 2.76% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,094 | 1.33% | 860 | 1.10% |
| Asian Language** | 207 | 0.25% | 284 | 0.36% |
| Other | 101 | 0.12% | 66 | 0.08% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 82,311 | 100.00% | 78,361 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 942 | 43.51% |
| Other Indo-European* | 177 | 20.58% |
| Asian Language** | 118 | 41.55% |
| Other Language | 19 | 28.79% |
| Total | 1,256 | 1.60% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 459 | 39.64% |
| Other Indo-European* | 257 | 23.49% |
| Asian Language** | 88 | 42.51% |
| Other Language | 36 | 35.64% |
| Total | 840 | 1.02% |
* "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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