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 | 27,206 | 98.80% | 30,879 | 97.44% |
| Spanish | 163 | 0.59% | 486 | 1.53% |
| Other Indo-European* | 156 | 0.57% | 189 | 0.60% |
| Asian Language** | 11 | 0.04% | 83 | 0.26% |
| Other | 0 | 0.00% | 52 | 0.16% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 27,536 | 100.00% | 31,689 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 208 | 42.80% |
| Other Indo-European* | 30 | 15.87% |
| Asian Language** | 26 | 31.33% |
| Other Language | 11 | 21.15% |
| Total | 275 | 0.87% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 66 | 40.49% |
| Other Indo-European* | 60 | 38.46% |
| Asian Language** | 0 | - |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 126 | 0.46% |
* "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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