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 | 36,363 | 95.90% | 38,946 | 92.62% |
| Spanish | 1,095 | 2.89% | 2,644 | 6.29% |
| Other Indo-European* | 394 | 1.04% | 292 | 0.69% |
| Asian Language** | 47 | 0.12% | 87 | 0.21% |
| Other | 17 | 0.04% | 78 | 0.19% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 37,916 | 100.00% | 42,047 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,399 | 52.91% |
| Other Indo-European* | 57 | 19.52% |
| Asian Language** | 36 | 41.38% |
| Other Language | 19 | 24.36% |
| Total | 1,511 | 3.59% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 482 | 44.02% |
| Other Indo-European* | 101 | 25.63% |
| Asian Language** | 17 | 36.17% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 600 | 1.58% |
* "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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