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 | 13,025 | 98.24% | 20,576 | 95.72% |
| Spanish | 130 | 0.98% | 652 | 3.03% |
| Other Indo-European* | 93 | 0.70% | 105 | 0.49% |
| Asian Language** | 11 | 0.08% | 120 | 0.56% |
| Other | 0 | 0.00% | 43 | 0.20% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 13,259 | 100.00% | 21,496 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 160 | 24.54% |
| Other Indo-European* | 14 | 13.33% |
| Asian Language** | 60 | 50.00% |
| Other Language | 16 | 37.21% |
| Total | 250 | 1.16% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 29 | 22.31% |
| Other Indo-European* | 0 | - |
| Asian Language** | 6 | 54.55% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 35 | 0.26% |
* "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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