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 | 49,967 | 97.71% | 60,329 | 97.37% |
| Spanish | 469 | 0.92% | 746 | 1.20% |
| Other Indo-European* | 603 | 1.18% | 729 | 1.18% |
| Asian Language** | 87 | 0.17% | 123 | 0.20% |
| Other | 10 | 0.02% | 31 | 0.05% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 51,136 | 100.00% | 61,958 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 307 | 41.15% |
| Other Indo-European* | 219 | 30.04% |
| Asian Language** | 51 | 41.46% |
| Other Language | 0 | 0.00% |
| Total | 577 | 0.93% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 176 | 37.53% |
| Other Indo-European* | 119 | 19.73% |
| Asian Language** | 15 | 17.24% |
| Other Language | 10 | 100.00% |
| Total | 320 | 0.63% |
* "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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