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 | 34,164 | 93.75% | 34,363 | 93.40% |
| Spanish | 1,695 | 4.65% | 1,772 | 4.82% |
| Other Indo-European* | 482 | 1.32% | 540 | 1.47% |
| Asian Language** | 34 | 0.09% | 61 | 0.17% |
| Other | 67 | 0.18% | 55 | 0.15% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 36,442 | 100.00% | 36,791 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 401 | 22.63% |
| Other Indo-European* | 165 | 30.56% |
| Asian Language** | 31 | 50.82% |
| Other Language | 0 | 0.00% |
| Total | 597 | 1.62% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 625 | 36.87% |
| Other Indo-European* | 109 | 22.61% |
| Asian Language** | 23 | 67.65% |
| Other Language | 25 | 37.31% |
| Total | 782 | 2.15% |
* "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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