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 | 34,301 | 97.60% | 36,735 | 95.71% |
| Spanish | 289 | 0.82% | 1,033 | 2.69% |
| Other Indo-European* | 401 | 1.14% | 318 | 0.83% |
| Asian Language** | 134 | 0.38% | 249 | 0.65% |
| Other | 18 | 0.05% | 46 | 0.12% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 35,143 | 100.00% | 38,381 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 632 | 61.18% |
| Other Indo-European* | 50 | 15.72% |
| Asian Language** | 185 | 74.30% |
| Other Language | 0 | 0.00% |
| Total | 867 | 2.26% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 84 | 29.07% |
| Other Indo-European* | 82 | 20.45% |
| Asian Language** | 88 | 65.67% |
| Other Language | 8 | 44.44% |
| Total | 262 | 0.75% |
* "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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