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 | 30,865 | 95.50% | 32,313 | 91.18% |
| Spanish | 921 | 2.85% | 2,631 | 7.42% |
| Other Indo-European* | 367 | 1.14% | 357 | 1.01% |
| Asian Language** | 130 | 0.40% | 94 | 0.27% |
| Other | 35 | 0.11% | 44 | 0.12% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 32,318 | 100.00% | 35,439 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,534 | 58.30% |
| Other Indo-European* | 160 | 44.82% |
| Asian Language** | 19 | 20.21% |
| Other Language | 12 | 27.27% |
| Total | 1,725 | 4.87% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 532 | 57.76% |
| Other Indo-European* | 125 | 34.06% |
| Asian Language** | 93 | 71.54% |
| Other Language | 11 | 31.43% |
| Total | 761 | 2.35% |
* "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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