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 | 26,174 | 96.53% | 31,842 | 92.24% |
| Spanish | 642 | 2.37% | 2,232 | 6.47% |
| Other Indo-European* | 244 | 0.90% | 307 | 0.89% |
| Asian Language** | 54 | 0.20% | 104 | 0.30% |
| Other | 0 | 0.00% | 37 | 0.11% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 27,114 | 100.00% | 34,522 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,406 | 62.99% |
| Other Indo-European* | 65 | 21.17% |
| Asian Language** | 31 | 29.81% |
| Other Language | 8 | 21.62% |
| Total | 1,510 | 4.37% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 299 | 46.57% |
| Other Indo-European* | 72 | 29.51% |
| Asian Language** | 32 | 59.26% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 403 | 1.49% |
* "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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