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 | 59,776 | 96.73% | 63,284 | 91.90% |
| Spanish | 1,401 | 2.27% | 4,762 | 6.92% |
| Other Indo-European* | 545 | 0.88% | 533 | 0.77% |
| Asian Language** | 39 | 0.06% | 180 | 0.26% |
| Other | 38 | 0.06% | 102 | 0.15% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 61,799 | 100.00% | 68,861 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 3,336 | 70.05% |
| Other Indo-European* | 159 | 29.83% |
| Asian Language** | 72 | 40.00% |
| Other Language | 60 | 58.82% |
| Total | 3,627 | 5.27% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 625 | 44.61% |
| Other Indo-European* | 203 | 37.25% |
| Asian Language** | 15 | 38.46% |
| Other Language | 10 | 26.32% |
| Total | 853 | 1.38% |
* "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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