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 | 26,282 | 95.23% | 27,865 | 94.33% |
| Spanish | 134 | 0.49% | 844 | 2.86% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,089 | 3.95% | 671 | 2.27% |
| Asian Language** | 89 | 0.32% | 108 | 0.37% |
| Other | 5 | 0.02% | 53 | 0.18% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 27,599 | 100.00% | 29,541 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 404 | 47.87% |
| Other Indo-European* | 143 | 21.31% |
| Asian Language** | 56 | 51.85% |
| Other Language | 13 | 24.53% |
| Total | 616 | 2.09% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 40 | 29.85% |
| Other Indo-European* | 298 | 27.36% |
| Asian Language** | 41 | 46.07% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 379 | 1.37% |
* "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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