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 | 84,530 | 95.96% | 104,005 | 94.99% |
| Spanish | 517 | 0.59% | 1,874 | 1.71% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,855 | 3.24% | 3,211 | 2.93% |
| Asian Language** | 101 | 0.11% | 240 | 0.22% |
| Other | 85 | 0.10% | 163 | 0.15% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 88,088 | 100.00% | 109,493 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 771 | 41.14% |
| Other Indo-European* | 922 | 28.71% |
| Asian Language** | 86 | 35.83% |
| Other Language | 35 | 21.47% |
| Total | 1,814 | 1.66% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 154 | 29.79% |
| Other Indo-European* | 832 | 29.14% |
| Asian Language** | 28 | 27.72% |
| Other Language | 17 | 20.00% |
| Total | 1,031 | 1.17% |
* "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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