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 | 65,582 | 93.56% | 80,321 | 90.97% |
| Spanish | 1,757 | 2.51% | 5,193 | 5.88% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,152 | 3.07% | 2,252 | 2.55% |
| Asian Language** | 514 | 0.73% | 437 | 0.49% |
| Other | 91 | 0.13% | 93 | 0.11% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 70,096 | 100.00% | 88,296 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 2,631 | 50.66% |
| Other Indo-European* | 558 | 24.78% |
| Asian Language** | 229 | 52.40% |
| Other Language | 14 | 15.05% |
| Total | 3,432 | 3.89% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 653 | 37.17% |
| Other Indo-European* | 678 | 31.51% |
| Asian Language** | 323 | 62.84% |
| Other Language | 16 | 17.58% |
| Total | 1,670 | 2.38% |
* "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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