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 | 84,102 | 95.40% | 89,556 | 95.13% |
| Spanish | 1,493 | 1.69% | 2,179 | 2.31% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,229 | 2.53% | 2,058 | 2.19% |
| Asian Language** | 261 | 0.30% | 313 | 0.33% |
| Other | 70 | 0.08% | 39 | 0.04% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 88,155 | 100.00% | 94,145 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 856 | 39.28% |
| Other Indo-European* | 554 | 26.92% |
| Asian Language** | 103 | 32.91% |
| Other Language | 9 | 23.08% |
| Total | 1,522 | 1.62% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 393 | 26.32% |
| Other Indo-European* | 476 | 21.35% |
| Asian Language** | 139 | 53.26% |
| Other Language | 11 | 15.71% |
| Total | 1,019 | 1.16% |
* "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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