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 | 28,395 | 92.99% | 40,707 | 92.63% |
| Spanish | 1,422 | 4.66% | 2,204 | 5.02% |
| Other Indo-European* | 657 | 2.15% | 864 | 1.97% |
| Asian Language** | 28 | 0.09% | 87 | 0.20% |
| Other | 35 | 0.11% | 84 | 0.19% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 30,537 | 100.00% | 43,946 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 869 | 39.43% |
| Other Indo-European* | 162 | 18.75% |
| Asian Language** | 43 | 49.43% |
| Other Language | 15 | 17.86% |
| Total | 1,089 | 2.48% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 395 | 27.78% |
| Other Indo-European* | 158 | 24.05% |
| Asian Language** | 13 | 46.43% |
| Other Language | 7 | 20.00% |
| Total | 573 | 1.88% |
* "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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