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 | 27,936 | 97.99% | 26,413 | 97.73% |
| Spanish | 288 | 1.01% | 444 | 1.64% |
| Other Indo-European* | 249 | 0.87% | 119 | 0.44% |
| Asian Language** | 24 | 0.08% | 32 | 0.12% |
| Other | 12 | 0.04% | 18 | 0.07% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 28,509 | 100.00% | 27,026 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 146 | 32.88% |
| Other Indo-European* | 5 | 4.20% |
| Asian Language** | 11 | 34.38% |
| Other Language | 0 | 0.00% |
| Total | 162 | 0.60% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 105 | 36.46% |
| Other Indo-European* | 72 | 28.92% |
| Asian Language** | 9 | 37.50% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 186 | 0.65% |
* "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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