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 | 78,960 | 88.88% | 79,467 | 86.10% |
| Spanish | 1,707 | 1.92% | 2,628 | 2.85% |
| Other Indo-European* | 4,146 | 4.67% | 4,287 | 4.64% |
| Asian Language** | 3,424 | 3.85% | 5,230 | 5.67% |
| Other | 598 | 0.67% | 688 | 0.75% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 88,835 | 100.00% | 92,300 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 586 | 22.30% |
| Other Indo-European* | 897 | 20.92% |
| Asian Language** | 2,225 | 42.54% |
| Other Language | 94 | 13.66% |
| Total | 3,802 | 4.12% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 360 | 21.09% |
| Other Indo-European* | 751 | 18.11% |
| Asian Language** | 1,270 | 37.09% |
| Other Language | 149 | 24.92% |
| Total | 2,530 | 2.85% |
* "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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