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 | 27,962 | 98.32% | 27,505 | 98.04% |
| Spanish | 162 | 0.57% | 285 | 1.02% |
| Other Indo-European* | 260 | 0.91% | 215 | 0.77% |
| Asian Language** | 56 | 0.20% | 42 | 0.15% |
| Other | 0 | 0.00% | 7 | 0.02% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 28,440 | 100.00% | 28,054 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 145 | 50.88% |
| Other Indo-European* | 30 | 13.95% |
| Asian Language** | 6 | 14.29% |
| Other Language | 7 | 100.00% |
| Total | 188 | 0.67% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 39 | 24.07% |
| Other Indo-European* | 81 | 31.15% |
| Asian Language** | 11 | 19.64% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 131 | 0.46% |
* "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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