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 | 73,156 | 97.43% | 111,012 | 94.60% |
| Spanish | 653 | 0.87% | 2,941 | 2.51% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,062 | 1.41% | 2,134 | 1.82% |
| Asian Language** | 181 | 0.24% | 1,080 | 0.92% |
| Other | 33 | 0.04% | 188 | 0.16% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 75,085 | 100.00% | 117,355 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,462 | 49.71% |
| Other Indo-European* | 715 | 33.51% |
| Asian Language** | 420 | 38.89% |
| Other Language | 27 | 14.36% |
| Total | 2,624 | 2.24% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 204 | 31.24% |
| Other Indo-European* | 260 | 24.48% |
| Asian Language** | 114 | 62.98% |
| Other Language | 12 | 36.36% |
| Total | 590 | 0.79% |
* "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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