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 | 43,372 | 72.39% | 60,696 | 73.24% |
| Spanish | 14,046 | 23.44% | 19,810 | 23.91% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,167 | 3.62% | 1,673 | 2.02% |
| Asian Language** | 317 | 0.53% | 629 | 0.76% |
| Other | 13 | 0.02% | 60 | 0.07% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 59,915 | 100.00% | 82,868 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 6,790 | 34.28% |
| Other Indo-European* | 279 | 16.68% |
| Asian Language** | 276 | 43.88% |
| Other Language | 5 | 8.33% |
| Total | 7,350 | 8.87% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 6,015 | 42.82% |
| Other Indo-European* | 481 | 22.20% |
| Asian Language** | 120 | 37.85% |
| Other Language | 5 | 38.46% |
| Total | 6,621 | 11.05% |
* "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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