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 | 66,184 | 88.53% | 75,485 | 88.98% |
| Spanish | 551 | 0.74% | 860 | 1.01% |
| Other Indo-European* | 7,401 | 9.90% | 7,876 | 9.28% |
| Asian Language** | 176 | 0.24% | 156 | 0.18% |
| Other | 449 | 0.60% | 459 | 0.54% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 74,761 | 100.00% | 84,836 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 241 | 28.02% |
| Other Indo-European* | 3,534 | 44.87% |
| Asian Language** | 62 | 39.74% |
| Other Language | 100 | 21.79% |
| Total | 3,937 | 4.64% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 134 | 24.32% |
| Other Indo-European* | 3,564 | 48.16% |
| Asian Language** | 47 | 26.70% |
| Other Language | 111 | 24.72% |
| Total | 3,856 | 5.16% |
* "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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