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 | 22,034 | 93.14% | 34,909 | 87.43% |
| Spanish | 1,214 | 5.13% | 3,973 | 9.95% |
| Other Indo-European* | 268 | 1.13% | 576 | 1.44% |
| Asian Language** | 124 | 0.52% | 392 | 0.98% |
| Other | 18 | 0.08% | 80 | 0.20% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 23,658 | 100.00% | 39,930 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,947 | 49.01% |
| Other Indo-European* | 92 | 15.97% |
| Asian Language** | 119 | 30.36% |
| Other Language | 25 | 31.25% |
| Total | 2,183 | 5.47% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 510 | 42.01% |
| Other Indo-European* | 44 | 16.42% |
| Asian Language** | 35 | 28.23% |
| Other Language | 7 | 38.89% |
| Total | 596 | 2.52% |
* "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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