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 | 30,922 | 97.88% | 39,379 | 97.17% |
| Spanish | 398 | 1.26% | 463 | 1.14% |
| Other Indo-European* | 225 | 0.71% | 475 | 1.17% |
| Asian Language** | 31 | 0.10% | 160 | 0.39% |
| Other | 17 | 0.05% | 49 | 0.12% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 31,593 | 100.00% | 40,526 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 279 | 60.26% |
| Other Indo-European* | 141 | 29.68% |
| Asian Language** | 51 | 31.88% |
| Other Language | 0 | 0.00% |
| Total | 471 | 1.16% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 71 | 17.84% |
| Other Indo-European* | 67 | 29.78% |
| Asian Language** | 8 | 25.81% |
| Other Language | 8 | 47.06% |
| Total | 154 | 0.49% |
* "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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