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 | 19,894 | 89.24% | 23,008 | 75.86% |
| Spanish | 1,955 | 8.77% | 6,693 | 22.07% |
| Other Indo-European* | 267 | 1.20% | 511 | 1.68% |
| Asian Language** | 139 | 0.62% | 60 | 0.20% |
| Other | 37 | 0.17% | 59 | 0.19% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 22,292 | 100.00% | 30,331 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 4,511 | 67.40% |
| Other Indo-European* | 173 | 33.86% |
| Asian Language** | 16 | 26.67% |
| Other Language | 19 | 32.20% |
| Total | 4,719 | 15.56% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 956 | 48.90% |
| Other Indo-European* | 92 | 34.46% |
| Asian Language** | 44 | 31.65% |
| Other Language | 29 | 78.38% |
| Total | 1,121 | 5.03% |
* "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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