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 | 52,025 | 97.13% | 59,945 | 94.44% |
| Spanish | 838 | 1.56% | 2,228 | 3.51% |
| Other Indo-European* | 520 | 0.97% | 1,034 | 1.63% |
| Asian Language** | 126 | 0.24% | 149 | 0.23% |
| Other | 53 | 0.10% | 117 | 0.18% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 53,562 | 100.00% | 63,473 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,422 | 63.82% |
| Other Indo-European* | 387 | 37.43% |
| Asian Language** | 62 | 41.61% |
| Other Language | 55 | 47.01% |
| Total | 1,926 | 3.03% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 227 | 27.09% |
| Other Indo-European* | 124 | 23.85% |
| Asian Language** | 62 | 49.21% |
| Other Language | 5 | 9.43% |
| Total | 418 | 0.78% |
* "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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