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 | 25,314 | 77.69% | 25,886 | 82.35% |
| Spanish | 129 | 0.40% | 143 | 0.45% |
| Other Indo-European* | 7,075 | 21.71% | 5,328 | 16.95% |
| Asian Language** | 38 | 0.12% | 76 | 0.24% |
| Other | 28 | 0.09% | 1 | 0.00% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 32,584 | 100.00% | 31,434 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 51 | 35.66% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,141 | 21.42% |
| Asian Language** | 9 | 11.84% |
| Other Language | 0 | 0.00% |
| Total | 1,201 | 3.82% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 24 | 18.60% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,547 | 21.87% |
| Asian Language** | 6 | 15.79% |
| Other Language | 8 | 28.57% |
| Total | 1,585 | 4.86% |
* "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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