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 | 29,354 | 87.72% | 29,767 | 86.30% |
| Spanish | 3,102 | 9.27% | 3,929 | 11.39% |
| Other Indo-European* | 802 | 2.40% | 626 | 1.81% |
| Asian Language** | 60 | 0.18% | 103 | 0.30% |
| Other | 146 | 0.44% | 68 | 0.20% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 33,464 | 100.00% | 34,493 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,608 | 40.93% |
| Other Indo-European* | 102 | 16.29% |
| Asian Language** | 51 | 49.51% |
| Other Language | 18 | 26.47% |
| Total | 1,779 | 5.16% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 878 | 28.30% |
| Other Indo-European* | 169 | 21.07% |
| Asian Language** | 24 | 40.00% |
| Other Language | 8 | 5.48% |
| Total | 1,079 | 3.22% |
* "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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