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 | 65,424 | 93.50% | 73,712 | 92.62% |
| Spanish | 676 | 0.97% | 1,459 | 1.83% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,948 | 2.78% | 1,941 | 2.44% |
| Asian Language** | 1,647 | 2.35% | 1,992 | 2.50% |
| Other | 276 | 0.39% | 485 | 0.61% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 69,971 | 100.00% | 79,589 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 463 | 31.73% |
| Other Indo-European* | 500 | 25.76% |
| Asian Language** | 965 | 48.44% |
| Other Language | 79 | 16.29% |
| Total | 2,007 | 2.52% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 231 | 34.17% |
| Other Indo-European* | 379 | 19.46% |
| Asian Language** | 820 | 49.79% |
| Other Language | 58 | 21.01% |
| Total | 1,488 | 2.13% |
* "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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