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 | 31,971 | 98.50% | 32,413 | 97.89% |
| Spanish | 214 | 0.66% | 270 | 0.82% |
| Other Indo-European* | 209 | 0.64% | 320 | 0.97% |
| Asian Language** | 63 | 0.19% | 18 | 0.05% |
| Other | 0 | 0.00% | 91 | 0.27% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 32,457 | 100.00% | 33,112 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 125 | 46.30% |
| Other Indo-European* | 182 | 56.88% |
| Asian Language** | 11 | 61.11% |
| Other Language | 56 | 61.54% |
| Total | 374 | 1.13% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 60 | 28.04% |
| Other Indo-European* | 33 | 15.79% |
| Asian Language** | 37 | 58.73% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 130 | 0.40% |
* "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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