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 | 28,819 | 98.31% | 35,636 | 96.77% |
| Spanish | 206 | 0.70% | 896 | 2.43% |
| Other Indo-European* | 250 | 0.85% | 246 | 0.67% |
| Asian Language** | 32 | 0.11% | 46 | 0.12% |
| Other | 7 | 0.02% | 0 | 0.00% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 29,314 | 100.00% | 36,824 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 462 | 51.56% |
| Other Indo-European* | 25 | 10.16% |
| Asian Language** | 34 | 73.91% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 521 | 1.41% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 47 | 22.82% |
| Other Indo-European* | 83 | 33.20% |
| Asian Language** | 19 | 59.38% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 149 | 0.51% |
* "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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