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 | 52,624 | 97.38% | 103,560 | 94.38% |
| Spanish | 619 | 1.15% | 2,657 | 2.42% |
| Other Indo-European* | 610 | 1.13% | 1,893 | 1.73% |
| Asian Language** | 159 | 0.29% | 1,241 | 1.13% |
| Other | 29 | 0.05% | 375 | 0.34% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 54,041 | 100.00% | 109,726 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 818 | 30.79% |
| Other Indo-European* | 355 | 18.75% |
| Asian Language** | 493 | 39.73% |
| Other Language | 54 | 14.40% |
| Total | 1,720 | 1.57% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 183 | 29.56% |
| Other Indo-European* | 228 | 37.38% |
| Asian Language** | 77 | 48.43% |
| Other Language | 11 | 37.93% |
| Total | 499 | 0.92% |
* "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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