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 | 33,508 | 97.70% | 36,605 | 97.08% |
| Spanish | 348 | 1.01% | 541 | 1.43% |
| Other Indo-European* | 386 | 1.13% | 462 | 1.23% |
| Asian Language** | 54 | 0.16% | 53 | 0.14% |
| Other | 0 | 0.00% | 46 | 0.12% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 34,296 | 100.00% | 37,707 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 180 | 33.27% |
| Other Indo-European* | 162 | 35.06% |
| Asian Language** | 10 | 18.87% |
| Other Language | 10 | 21.74% |
| Total | 362 | 0.96% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 99 | 28.45% |
| Other Indo-European* | 68 | 17.62% |
| Asian Language** | 19 | 35.19% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 186 | 0.54% |
* "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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