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 | 27,758 | 94.88% | 33,163 | 86.08% |
| Spanish | 491 | 1.68% | 3,112 | 8.08% |
| Other Indo-European* | 596 | 2.04% | 1,207 | 3.13% |
| Asian Language** | 263 | 0.90% | 793 | 2.06% |
| Other | 149 | 0.51% | 249 | 0.65% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 29,257 | 100.00% | 38,524 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,908 | 61.31% |
| Other Indo-European* | 502 | 41.59% |
| Asian Language** | 369 | 46.53% |
| Other Language | 146 | 58.63% |
| Total | 2,925 | 7.59% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 184 | 37.47% |
| Other Indo-European* | 130 | 21.81% |
| Asian Language** | 170 | 64.64% |
| Other Language | 54 | 36.24% |
| Total | 538 | 1.84% |
* "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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