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 | 74,081 | 95.06% | 74,742 | 94.87% |
| Spanish | 862 | 1.11% | 1,118 | 1.42% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,515 | 3.23% | 2,314 | 2.94% |
| Asian Language** | 170 | 0.22% | 261 | 0.33% |
| Other | 306 | 0.39% | 350 | 0.44% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 77,934 | 100.00% | 78,785 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 380 | 33.99% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,131 | 48.88% |
| Asian Language** | 124 | 47.51% |
| Other Language | 74 | 21.14% |
| Total | 1,709 | 2.17% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 231 | 26.80% |
| Other Indo-European* | 997 | 39.64% |
| Asian Language** | 70 | 41.18% |
| Other Language | 55 | 17.97% |
| Total | 1,353 | 1.74% |
* "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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