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 | 26,194 | 96.16% | 27,099 | 92.15% |
| Spanish | 299 | 1.10% | 1,833 | 6.23% |
| Other Indo-European* | 672 | 2.47% | 392 | 1.33% |
| Asian Language** | 71 | 0.26% | 62 | 0.21% |
| Other | 5 | 0.02% | 21 | 0.07% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 27,241 | 100.00% | 29,407 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,020 | 55.65% |
| Other Indo-European* | 86 | 21.94% |
| Asian Language** | 33 | 53.23% |
| Other Language | 13 | 61.90% |
| Total | 1,152 | 3.92% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 118 | 39.46% |
| Other Indo-European* | 200 | 29.76% |
| Asian Language** | 38 | 53.52% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 356 | 1.31% |
* "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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