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 | 33,357 | 95.76% | 38,545 | 90.40% |
| Spanish | 698 | 2.00% | 2,860 | 6.71% |
| Other Indo-European* | 717 | 2.06% | 984 | 2.31% |
| Asian Language** | 47 | 0.13% | 165 | 0.39% |
| Other | 16 | 0.05% | 83 | 0.19% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 34,835 | 100.00% | 42,637 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,687 | 58.99% |
| Other Indo-European* | 376 | 38.21% |
| Asian Language** | 111 | 67.27% |
| Other Language | 63 | 75.90% |
| Total | 2,237 | 5.25% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 200 | 28.65% |
| Other Indo-European* | 279 | 38.91% |
| Asian Language** | 26 | 55.32% |
| Other Language | 6 | 37.50% |
| Total | 511 | 1.47% |
* "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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