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 | 29,258 | 98.40% | 31,447 | 97.42% |
| Spanish | 237 | 0.80% | 583 | 1.81% |
| Other Indo-European* | 215 | 0.72% | 152 | 0.47% |
| Asian Language** | 2 | 0.01% | 61 | 0.19% |
| Other | 23 | 0.08% | 37 | 0.11% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 29,735 | 100.00% | 32,280 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 264 | 45.28% |
| Other Indo-European* | 38 | 25.00% |
| Asian Language** | 17 | 27.87% |
| Other Language | 11 | 29.73% |
| Total | 330 | 1.02% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 90 | 37.97% |
| Other Indo-European* | 55 | 25.58% |
| Asian Language** | 2 | 100.00% |
| Other Language | 16 | 69.57% |
| Total | 163 | 0.55% |
* "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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