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 | 34,021 | 95.73% | 30,123 | 95.58% |
| Spanish | 604 | 1.70% | 770 | 2.44% |
| Other Indo-European* | 657 | 1.85% | 388 | 1.23% |
| Asian Language** | 208 | 0.59% | 199 | 0.63% |
| Other | 50 | 0.14% | 37 | 0.12% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 35,540 | 100.00% | 31,517 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 272 | 35.32% |
| Other Indo-European* | 158 | 40.72% |
| Asian Language** | 112 | 56.28% |
| Other Language | 17 | 45.95% |
| Total | 559 | 1.77% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 193 | 31.95% |
| Other Indo-European* | 182 | 27.70% |
| Asian Language** | 101 | 48.56% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 476 | 1.34% |
* "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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