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 | 39,236 | 96.47% | 52,061 | 96.15% |
| Spanish | 701 | 1.72% | 1,135 | 2.10% |
| Other Indo-European* | 571 | 1.40% | 600 | 1.11% |
| Asian Language** | 133 | 0.33% | 265 | 0.49% |
| Other | 30 | 0.07% | 87 | 0.16% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 40,671 | 100.00% | 54,148 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 327 | 28.81% |
| Other Indo-European* | 83 | 13.83% |
| Asian Language** | 112 | 42.26% |
| Other Language | 16 | 18.39% |
| Total | 538 | 0.99% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 195 | 27.82% |
| Other Indo-European* | 178 | 31.17% |
| Asian Language** | 63 | 47.37% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 436 | 1.07% |
* "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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