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 | 30,433 | 96.56% | 32,688 | 92.14% |
| Spanish | 747 | 2.37% | 2,462 | 6.94% |
| Other Indo-European* | 227 | 0.72% | 245 | 0.69% |
| Asian Language** | 103 | 0.33% | 82 | 0.23% |
| Other | 6 | 0.02% | 0 | 0.00% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 31,516 | 100.00% | 35,477 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,887 | 76.65% |
| Other Indo-European* | 64 | 26.12% |
| Asian Language** | 20 | 24.39% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 1,971 | 5.56% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 242 | 32.40% |
| Other Indo-European* | 106 | 46.70% |
| Asian Language** | 33 | 32.04% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 381 | 1.21% |
* "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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