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 | 27,605 | 98.17% | 29,753 | 97.41% |
| Spanish | 316 | 1.12% | 414 | 1.36% |
| Other Indo-European* | 147 | 0.52% | 342 | 1.12% |
| Asian Language** | 41 | 0.15% | 27 | 0.09% |
| Other | 10 | 0.04% | 9 | 0.03% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 28,119 | 100.00% | 30,545 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 160 | 38.65% |
| Other Indo-European* | 69 | 20.18% |
| Asian Language** | 11 | 40.74% |
| Other Language | 0 | 0.00% |
| Total | 240 | 0.79% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 109 | 34.49% |
| Other Indo-European* | 29 | 19.73% |
| Asian Language** | 18 | 43.90% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 156 | 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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