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 | 34,193 | 90.85% | 41,896 | 85.14% |
| Spanish | 2,199 | 5.84% | 5,577 | 11.33% |
| Other Indo-European* | 828 | 2.20% | 857 | 1.74% |
| Asian Language** | 251 | 0.67% | 697 | 1.42% |
| Other | 164 | 0.44% | 182 | 0.37% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 37,635 | 100.00% | 49,209 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 2,974 | 53.33% |
| Other Indo-European* | 146 | 17.04% |
| Asian Language** | 356 | 51.08% |
| Other Language | 5 | 2.75% |
| Total | 3,481 | 7.07% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,130 | 51.39% |
| Other Indo-European* | 197 | 23.79% |
| Asian Language** | 164 | 65.34% |
| Other Language | 35 | 21.34% |
| Total | 1,526 | 4.05% |
* "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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