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 | 52,256 | 96.77% | 55,920 | 97.00% |
| Spanish | 631 | 1.17% | 965 | 1.67% |
| Other Indo-European* | 844 | 1.56% | 592 | 1.03% |
| Asian Language** | 176 | 0.33% | 122 | 0.21% |
| Other | 94 | 0.17% | 48 | 0.08% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 54,001 | 100.00% | 57,647 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 271 | 28.08% |
| Other Indo-European* | 126 | 21.28% |
| Asian Language** | 41 | 33.61% |
| Other Language | 0 | 0.00% |
| Total | 438 | 0.76% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 175 | 27.73% |
| Other Indo-European* | 220 | 26.07% |
| Asian Language** | 68 | 38.64% |
| Other Language | 31 | 32.98% |
| Total | 494 | 0.91% |
* "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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