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 | 33,612 | 94.03% | 34,798 | 90.10% |
| Spanish | 943 | 2.64% | 2,781 | 7.20% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,106 | 3.09% | 851 | 2.20% |
| Asian Language** | 51 | 0.14% | 47 | 0.12% |
| Other | 33 | 0.09% | 143 | 0.37% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 35,745 | 100.00% | 38,620 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,179 | 42.39% |
| Other Indo-European* | 137 | 16.10% |
| Asian Language** | 17 | 36.17% |
| Other Language | 84 | 58.74% |
| Total | 1,417 | 3.67% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 417 | 44.22% |
| Other Indo-European* | 325 | 29.39% |
| Asian Language** | 24 | 47.06% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 766 | 2.14% |
* "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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