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 | 23,291 | 95.95% | 30,528 | 93.93% |
| Spanish | 490 | 2.02% | 1,488 | 4.58% |
| Other Indo-European* | 347 | 1.43% | 378 | 1.16% |
| Asian Language** | 91 | 0.37% | 81 | 0.25% |
| Other | 56 | 0.23% | 26 | 0.08% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 24,275 | 100.00% | 32,501 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 676 | 45.43% |
| Other Indo-European* | 65 | 17.20% |
| Asian Language** | 13 | 16.05% |
| Other Language | 15 | 57.69% |
| Total | 769 | 2.37% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 163 | 33.27% |
| Other Indo-European* | 101 | 29.11% |
| Asian Language** | 29 | 31.87% |
| Other Language | 25 | 44.64% |
| Total | 318 | 1.31% |
* "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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