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 | 25,247 | 97.85% | 30,057 | 95.97% |
| Spanish | 288 | 1.12% | 837 | 2.67% |
| Other Indo-European* | 223 | 0.86% | 111 | 0.35% |
| Asian Language** | 21 | 0.08% | 277 | 0.88% |
| Other | 24 | 0.09% | 37 | 0.12% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 25,803 | 100.00% | 31,319 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 441 | 52.69% |
| Other Indo-European* | 23 | 20.72% |
| Asian Language** | 136 | 49.10% |
| Other Language | 0 | 0.00% |
| Total | 600 | 1.92% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 83 | 28.82% |
| Other Indo-European* | 31 | 13.90% |
| Asian Language** | 0 | - |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 114 | 0.44% |
* "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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