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 | 77,553 | 93.32% | 88,957 | 91.59% |
| Spanish | 4,140 | 4.98% | 6,287 | 6.47% |
| Other Indo-European* | 800 | 0.96% | 1,016 | 1.05% |
| Asian Language** | 546 | 0.66% | 746 | 0.77% |
| Other | 63 | 0.08% | 122 | 0.13% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 83,102 | 100.00% | 97,128 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,409 | 22.41% |
| Other Indo-European* | 403 | 39.67% |
| Asian Language** | 481 | 64.48% |
| Other Language | 46 | 37.70% |
| Total | 2,339 | 2.41% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,025 | 24.76% |
| Other Indo-European* | 176 | 22.00% |
| Asian Language** | 273 | 50.00% |
| Other Language | 12 | 19.05% |
| Total | 1,486 | 1.79% |
* "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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