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 | 31,793 | 95.30% | 31,567 | 94.47% |
| Spanish | 652 | 1.95% | 1,130 | 3.38% |
| Other Indo-European* | 782 | 2.34% | 490 | 1.47% |
| Asian Language** | 112 | 0.34% | 177 | 0.53% |
| Other | 22 | 0.07% | 52 | 0.16% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 33,361 | 100.00% | 33,416 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 555 | 49.12% |
| Other Indo-European* | 104 | 21.22% |
| Asian Language** | 79 | 44.63% |
| Other Language | 4 | 7.69% |
| Total | 742 | 2.22% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 289 | 44.33% |
| Other Indo-European* | 261 | 33.38% |
| Asian Language** | 63 | 56.25% |
| Other Language | 3 | 13.64% |
| Total | 616 | 1.85% |
* "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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