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 | 65,564 | 94.57% | 75,056 | 93.83% |
| Spanish | 960 | 1.38% | 1,755 | 2.19% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,278 | 3.29% | 2,091 | 2.61% |
| Asian Language** | 513 | 0.74% | 1,035 | 1.29% |
| Other | 14 | 0.02% | 55 | 0.07% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 69,329 | 100.00% | 79,992 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 487 | 27.75% |
| Other Indo-European* | 661 | 31.61% |
| Asian Language** | 369 | 35.65% |
| Other Language | 8 | 14.55% |
| Total | 1,525 | 1.91% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 339 | 35.31% |
| Other Indo-European* | 851 | 37.36% |
| Asian Language** | 185 | 36.06% |
| Other Language | 6 | 42.86% |
| Total | 1,381 | 1.99% |
* "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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