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 | 30,493 | 97.18% | 31,758 | 96.14% |
| Spanish | 484 | 1.54% | 945 | 2.86% |
| Other Indo-European* | 349 | 1.11% | 274 | 0.83% |
| Asian Language** | 39 | 0.12% | 25 | 0.08% |
| Other | 14 | 0.04% | 31 | 0.09% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 31,379 | 100.00% | 33,033 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 491 | 51.96% |
| Other Indo-European* | 89 | 32.48% |
| Asian Language** | 10 | 40.00% |
| Other Language | 4 | 12.90% |
| Total | 594 | 1.80% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 212 | 43.80% |
| Other Indo-European* | 103 | 29.51% |
| Asian Language** | 24 | 61.54% |
| Other Language | 4 | 28.57% |
| Total | 343 | 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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