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 | 30,384 | 98.25% | 32,058 | 94.64% |
| Spanish | 263 | 0.85% | 1,429 | 4.22% |
| Other Indo-European* | 248 | 0.80% | 326 | 0.96% |
| Asian Language** | 30 | 0.10% | 22 | 0.06% |
| Other | 0 | 0.00% | 40 | 0.12% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 30,925 | 100.00% | 33,875 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 943 | 65.99% |
| Other Indo-European* | 98 | 30.06% |
| Asian Language** | 2 | 9.09% |
| Other Language | 8 | 20.00% |
| Total | 1,051 | 3.10% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 33 | 12.55% |
| Other Indo-European* | 99 | 39.92% |
| Asian Language** | 22 | 73.33% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 154 | 0.50% |
* "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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