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 | 28,676 | 97.93% | 31,818 | 97.53% |
| Spanish | 425 | 1.45% | 523 | 1.60% |
| Other Indo-European* | 127 | 0.43% | 178 | 0.55% |
| Asian Language** | 55 | 0.19% | 74 | 0.23% |
| Other | 0 | 0.00% | 32 | 0.10% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 29,283 | 100.00% | 32,625 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 240 | 45.89% |
| Other Indo-European* | 55 | 30.90% |
| Asian Language** | 9 | 12.16% |
| Other Language | 15 | 46.88% |
| Total | 319 | 0.98% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 165 | 38.82% |
| Other Indo-European* | 21 | 16.54% |
| Asian Language** | 5 | 9.09% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 191 | 0.65% |
* "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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