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 | 34,633 | 96.56% | 35,357 | 97.91% |
| Spanish | 357 | 1.00% | 429 | 1.19% |
| Other Indo-European* | 718 | 2.00% | 270 | 0.75% |
| Asian Language** | 107 | 0.30% | 43 | 0.12% |
| Other | 51 | 0.14% | 14 | 0.04% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 35,866 | 100.00% | 36,113 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 173 | 40.33% |
| Other Indo-European* | 76 | 28.15% |
| Asian Language** | 25 | 58.14% |
| Other Language | 0 | 0.00% |
| Total | 274 | 0.76% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 132 | 36.97% |
| Other Indo-European* | 151 | 21.03% |
| Asian Language** | 42 | 39.25% |
| Other Language | 10 | 19.61% |
| Total | 335 | 0.93% |
* "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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