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 | 46,268 | 96.98% | 65,810 | 95.18% |
| Spanish | 657 | 1.38% | 2,214 | 3.20% |
| Other Indo-European* | 716 | 1.50% | 933 | 1.35% |
| Asian Language** | 40 | 0.08% | 122 | 0.18% |
| Other | 26 | 0.05% | 65 | 0.09% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 47,707 | 100.00% | 69,144 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,163 | 52.53% |
| Other Indo-European* | 266 | 28.51% |
| Asian Language** | 50 | 40.98% |
| Other Language | 8 | 12.31% |
| Total | 1,487 | 2.15% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 286 | 43.53% |
| Other Indo-European* | 318 | 44.41% |
| Asian Language** | 16 | 40.00% |
| Other Language | 4 | 15.38% |
| Total | 624 | 1.31% |
* "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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