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 | 74,935 | 94.82% | 101,637 | 90.12% |
| Spanish | 1,733 | 2.19% | 8,000 | 7.09% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,703 | 2.15% | 2,272 | 2.01% |
| Asian Language** | 511 | 0.65% | 721 | 0.64% |
| Other | 146 | 0.18% | 153 | 0.14% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 79,028 | 100.00% | 112,783 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 4,321 | 54.01% |
| Other Indo-European* | 411 | 18.09% |
| Asian Language** | 247 | 34.26% |
| Other Language | 42 | 27.45% |
| Total | 5,021 | 4.45% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 557 | 32.14% |
| Other Indo-European* | 439 | 25.78% |
| Asian Language** | 151 | 29.55% |
| Other Language | 23 | 15.75% |
| Total | 1,170 | 1.48% |
* "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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