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 | 30,386 | 97.89% | 32,882 | 97.96% |
| Spanish | 250 | 0.81% | 316 | 0.94% |
| Other Indo-European* | 322 | 1.04% | 328 | 0.98% |
| Asian Language** | 44 | 0.14% | 15 | 0.04% |
| Other | 40 | 0.13% | 25 | 0.07% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 31,042 | 100.00% | 33,566 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 198 | 62.66% |
| Other Indo-European* | 109 | 33.23% |
| Asian Language** | 8 | 53.33% |
| Other Language | 0 | 0.00% |
| Total | 315 | 0.94% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 112 | 44.80% |
| Other Indo-European* | 75 | 23.29% |
| Asian Language** | 23 | 52.27% |
| Other Language | 18 | 45.00% |
| Total | 228 | 0.73% |
* "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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