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 | 98,635 | 97.19% | 97,817 | 96.59% |
| Spanish | 1,044 | 1.03% | 1,705 | 1.68% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,456 | 1.43% | 1,198 | 1.18% |
| Asian Language** | 272 | 0.27% | 444 | 0.44% |
| Other | 81 | 0.08% | 105 | 0.10% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 101,488 | 100.00% | 101,269 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 560 | 32.84% |
| Other Indo-European* | 369 | 30.80% |
| Asian Language** | 109 | 24.55% |
| Other Language | 19 | 18.10% |
| Total | 1,057 | 1.04% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 293 | 28.07% |
| Other Indo-European* | 387 | 26.58% |
| Asian Language** | 67 | 24.63% |
| Other Language | 14 | 17.28% |
| Total | 761 | 0.75% |
* "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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