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 | 40,565 | 95.19% | 44,309 | 92.61% |
| Spanish | 1,224 | 2.87% | 2,572 | 5.38% |
| Other Indo-European* | 642 | 1.51% | 773 | 1.62% |
| Asian Language** | 152 | 0.36% | 78 | 0.16% |
| Other | 32 | 0.08% | 114 | 0.24% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 42,615 | 100.00% | 47,846 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,269 | 49.34% |
| Other Indo-European* | 208 | 26.91% |
| Asian Language** | 32 | 41.03% |
| Other Language | 19 | 16.67% |
| Total | 1,528 | 3.19% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 551 | 45.02% |
| Other Indo-European* | 135 | 21.03% |
| Asian Language** | 71 | 46.71% |
| Other Language | 14 | 43.75% |
| Total | 771 | 1.81% |
* "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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