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 | 72,863 | 96.24% | 101,914 | 90.88% |
| Spanish | 2,073 | 2.74% | 8,700 | 7.76% |
| Other Indo-European* | 694 | 0.92% | 1,088 | 0.97% |
| Asian Language** | 53 | 0.07% | 347 | 0.31% |
| Other | 28 | 0.04% | 97 | 0.09% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 75,711 | 100.00% | 112,146 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 5,636 | 64.78% |
| Other Indo-European* | 291 | 26.75% |
| Asian Language** | 129 | 37.18% |
| Other Language | 78 | 80.41% |
| Total | 6,134 | 5.47% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,017 | 49.06% |
| Other Indo-European* | 252 | 36.31% |
| Asian Language** | 29 | 54.72% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 1,298 | 1.71% |
* "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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