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 | 75,143 | 97.42% | 78,039 | 96.78% |
| Spanish | 976 | 1.27% | 1,395 | 1.73% |
| Other Indo-European* | 816 | 1.06% | 911 | 1.13% |
| Asian Language** | 148 | 0.19% | 267 | 0.33% |
| Other | 51 | 0.07% | 27 | 0.03% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 77,134 | 100.00% | 80,639 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 563 | 40.36% |
| Other Indo-European* | 237 | 26.02% |
| Asian Language** | 75 | 28.09% |
| Other Language | 5 | 18.52% |
| Total | 880 | 1.09% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 339 | 34.73% |
| Other Indo-European* | 223 | 27.33% |
| Asian Language** | 81 | 54.73% |
| Other Language | 7 | 13.73% |
| Total | 650 | 0.84% |
* "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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