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 | 27,390 | 96.63% | 31,073 | 97.17% |
| Spanish | 153 | 0.54% | 201 | 0.63% |
| Other Indo-European* | 755 | 2.66% | 607 | 1.90% |
| Asian Language** | 6 | 0.02% | 81 | 0.25% |
| Other | 41 | 0.14% | 17 | 0.05% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 28,345 | 100.00% | 31,979 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 28 | 13.93% |
| Other Indo-European* | 126 | 20.76% |
| Asian Language** | 32 | 39.51% |
| Other Language | 0 | 0.00% |
| Total | 186 | 0.58% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 23 | 15.03% |
| Other Indo-European* | 166 | 21.99% |
| Asian Language** | 0 | - |
| Other Language | 2 | 4.88% |
| Total | 191 | 0.67% |
* "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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