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 | 35,182 | 97.83% | 41,870 | 97.40% |
| Spanish | 348 | 0.97% | 441 | 1.03% |
| Other Indo-European* | 370 | 1.03% | 602 | 1.40% |
| Asian Language** | 64 | 0.18% | 73 | 0.17% |
| Other | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 35,964 | 100.00% | 42,986 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 185 | 41.95% |
| Other Indo-European* | 167 | 27.74% |
| Asian Language** | 30 | 41.10% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 382 | 0.89% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 116 | 33.33% |
| Other Indo-European* | 92 | 24.86% |
| Asian Language** | 30 | 46.88% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 238 | 0.66% |
* "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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