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 | 31,101 | 95.03% | 35,560 | 91.66% |
| Spanish | 1,092 | 3.34% | 2,176 | 5.61% |
| Other Indo-European* | 272 | 0.83% | 699 | 1.80% |
| Asian Language** | 184 | 0.56% | 271 | 0.70% |
| Other | 77 | 0.24% | 88 | 0.23% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 32,726 | 100.00% | 38,794 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 670 | 30.79% |
| Other Indo-European* | 169 | 24.18% |
| Asian Language** | 95 | 35.06% |
| Other Language | 9 | 10.23% |
| Total | 943 | 2.43% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 450 | 41.21% |
| Other Indo-European* | 77 | 28.31% |
| Asian Language** | 92 | 50.00% |
| Other Language | 9 | 11.69% |
| Total | 628 | 1.92% |
* "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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