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 | 33,529 | 94.48% | 36,848 | 94.37% |
| Spanish | 1,379 | 3.89% | 1,617 | 4.14% |
| Other Indo-European* | 464 | 1.31% | 386 | 0.99% |
| Asian Language** | 79 | 0.22% | 175 | 0.45% |
| Other | 37 | 0.10% | 22 | 0.06% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 35,488 | 100.00% | 39,048 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 506 | 31.29% |
| Other Indo-European* | 116 | 30.05% |
| Asian Language** | 96 | 54.86% |
| Other Language | 0 | 0.00% |
| Total | 718 | 1.84% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 418 | 30.31% |
| Other Indo-European* | 99 | 21.34% |
| Asian Language** | 51 | 64.56% |
| Other Language | 8 | 21.62% |
| Total | 576 | 1.62% |
* "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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