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 | 71,266 | 95.51% | 79,360 | 93.59% |
| Spanish | 1,427 | 1.91% | 2,889 | 3.41% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,134 | 1.52% | 1,481 | 1.75% |
| Asian Language** | 601 | 0.81% | 901 | 1.06% |
| Other | 186 | 0.25% | 162 | 0.19% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 74,614 | 100.00% | 84,793 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,119 | 38.73% |
| Other Indo-European* | 286 | 19.31% |
| Asian Language** | 430 | 47.72% |
| Other Language | 43 | 26.54% |
| Total | 1,878 | 2.21% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 340 | 23.83% |
| Other Indo-European* | 293 | 25.84% |
| Asian Language** | 284 | 47.25% |
| Other Language | 37 | 19.89% |
| Total | 954 | 1.28% |
* "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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