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 | 27,887 | 98.27% | 30,141 | 97.61% |
| Spanish | 203 | 0.72% | 463 | 1.50% |
| Other Indo-European* | 202 | 0.71% | 130 | 0.42% |
| Asian Language** | 27 | 0.10% | 86 | 0.28% |
| Other | 58 | 0.20% | 60 | 0.19% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 28,377 | 100.00% | 30,880 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 170 | 36.72% |
| Other Indo-European* | 24 | 18.46% |
| Asian Language** | 17 | 19.77% |
| Other Language | 15 | 25.00% |
| Total | 226 | 0.73% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 96 | 47.29% |
| Other Indo-European* | 102 | 50.50% |
| Asian Language** | 3 | 11.11% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 201 | 0.71% |
* "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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