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 | 53,391 | 95.07% | 79,205 | 92.72% |
| Spanish | 1,234 | 2.20% | 2,823 | 3.30% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,095 | 1.95% | 2,079 | 2.43% |
| Asian Language** | 394 | 0.70% | 1,057 | 1.24% |
| Other | 43 | 0.08% | 262 | 0.31% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 56,157 | 100.00% | 85,426 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 833 | 29.51% |
| Other Indo-European* | 444 | 21.36% |
| Asian Language** | 476 | 45.03% |
| Other Language | 48 | 18.32% |
| Total | 1,801 | 2.11% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 434 | 35.17% |
| Other Indo-European* | 282 | 25.75% |
| Asian Language** | 164 | 41.62% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 880 | 1.57% |
* "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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