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 | 32,080 | 95.02% | 35,230 | 92.43% |
| Spanish | 274 | 0.81% | 838 | 2.20% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,183 | 3.50% | 1,853 | 4.86% |
| Asian Language** | 139 | 0.41% | 117 | 0.31% |
| Other | 85 | 0.25% | 77 | 0.20% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 33,761 | 100.00% | 38,115 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 415 | 49.52% |
| Other Indo-European* | 908 | 49.00% |
| Asian Language** | 61 | 52.14% |
| Other Language | 21 | 27.27% |
| Total | 1,405 | 3.69% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 121 | 44.16% |
| Other Indo-European* | 511 | 43.20% |
| Asian Language** | 69 | 49.64% |
| Other Language | 22 | 25.88% |
| Total | 723 | 2.14% |
* "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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