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 | 27,262 | 97.91% | 31,340 | 97.57% |
| Spanish | 238 | 0.85% | 471 | 1.47% |
| Other Indo-European* | 292 | 1.05% | 253 | 0.79% |
| Asian Language** | 33 | 0.12% | 42 | 0.13% |
| Other | 18 | 0.06% | 15 | 0.05% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 27,843 | 100.00% | 32,121 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 193 | 40.98% |
| Other Indo-European* | 23 | 9.09% |
| Asian Language** | 12 | 28.57% |
| Other Language | 0 | 0.00% |
| Total | 228 | 0.71% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 41 | 17.23% |
| Other Indo-European* | 90 | 30.82% |
| Asian Language** | 18 | 54.55% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 149 | 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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