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 | 37,593 | 92.74% | 38,265 | 91.05% |
| Spanish | 1,631 | 4.02% | 2,373 | 5.65% |
| Other Indo-European* | 931 | 2.30% | 725 | 1.73% |
| Asian Language** | 249 | 0.61% | 462 | 1.10% |
| Other | 134 | 0.33% | 203 | 0.48% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 40,538 | 100.00% | 42,028 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 965 | 40.67% |
| Other Indo-European* | 148 | 20.41% |
| Asian Language** | 278 | 60.17% |
| Other Language | 66 | 32.51% |
| Total | 1,457 | 3.47% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 487 | 29.86% |
| Other Indo-European* | 207 | 22.23% |
| Asian Language** | 65 | 26.10% |
| Other Language | 24 | 17.91% |
| Total | 783 | 1.93% |
* "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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