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 | 79,597 | 97.76% | 81,252 | 98.06% |
| Spanish | 570 | 0.70% | 643 | 0.78% |
| Other Indo-European* | 935 | 1.15% | 636 | 0.77% |
| Asian Language** | 269 | 0.33% | 248 | 0.30% |
| Other | 50 | 0.06% | 84 | 0.10% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 81,421 | 100.00% | 82,863 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 189 | 29.39% |
| Other Indo-European* | 92 | 14.47% |
| Asian Language** | 82 | 33.06% |
| Other Language | 0 | 0.00% |
| Total | 363 | 0.44% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 230 | 40.35% |
| Other Indo-European* | 289 | 30.91% |
| Asian Language** | 76 | 28.25% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 595 | 0.73% |
* "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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