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 | 60,302 | 96.41% | 77,608 | 92.21% |
| Spanish | 1,236 | 1.98% | 4,923 | 5.85% |
| Other Indo-European* | 757 | 1.21% | 1,032 | 1.23% |
| Asian Language** | 185 | 0.30% | 554 | 0.66% |
| Other | 68 | 0.11% | 47 | 0.06% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 62,548 | 100.00% | 84,164 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 2,550 | 51.80% |
| Other Indo-European* | 314 | 30.43% |
| Asian Language** | 226 | 40.79% |
| Other Language | 6 | 12.77% |
| Total | 3,096 | 3.68% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 559 | 45.23% |
| Other Indo-European* | 239 | 31.57% |
| Asian Language** | 116 | 62.70% |
| Other Language | 20 | 29.41% |
| Total | 934 | 1.49% |
* "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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