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 | 28,380 | 95.45% | 46,576 | 90.93% |
| Spanish | 795 | 2.67% | 3,399 | 6.64% |
| Other Indo-European* | 473 | 1.59% | 941 | 1.84% |
| Asian Language** | 62 | 0.21% | 199 | 0.39% |
| Other | 23 | 0.08% | 107 | 0.21% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 29,733 | 100.00% | 51,222 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,409 | 41.45% |
| Other Indo-European* | 225 | 23.91% |
| Asian Language** | 107 | 53.77% |
| Other Language | 65 | 60.75% |
| Total | 1,806 | 3.53% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 332 | 41.76% |
| Other Indo-European* | 165 | 34.88% |
| Asian Language** | 44 | 70.97% |
| Other Language | 13 | 56.52% |
| Total | 554 | 1.86% |
* "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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