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 | 30,990 | 96.47% | 31,957 | 94.38% |
| Spanish | 249 | 0.78% | 1,315 | 3.88% |
| Other Indo-European* | 740 | 2.30% | 522 | 1.54% |
| Asian Language** | 110 | 0.34% | 35 | 0.10% |
| Other | 35 | 0.11% | 32 | 0.09% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 32,124 | 100.00% | 33,861 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 728 | 55.36% |
| Other Indo-European* | 99 | 18.97% |
| Asian Language** | 4 | 11.43% |
| Other Language | 18 | 56.25% |
| Total | 849 | 2.51% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 118 | 47.39% |
| Other Indo-European* | 174 | 23.51% |
| Asian Language** | 50 | 45.45% |
| Other Language | 7 | 20.00% |
| Total | 349 | 1.09% |
* "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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