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 | 26,555 | 97.60% | 39,973 | 94.21% |
| Spanish | 340 | 1.25% | 1,035 | 2.44% |
| Other Indo-European* | 164 | 0.60% | 518 | 1.22% |
| Asian Language** | 142 | 0.52% | 882 | 2.08% |
| Other | 7 | 0.03% | 21 | 0.05% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 27,208 | 100.00% | 42,429 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 528 | 51.01% |
| Other Indo-European* | 218 | 42.08% |
| Asian Language** | 544 | 61.68% |
| Other Language | 6 | 28.57% |
| Total | 1,296 | 3.05% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 185 | 54.41% |
| Other Indo-European* | 23 | 14.02% |
| Asian Language** | 47 | 33.10% |
| Other Language | 7 | 100.00% |
| Total | 262 | 0.96% |
* "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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