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 | 18,795 | 95.46% | 20,611 | 93.12% |
| Spanish | 481 | 2.44% | 1,107 | 5.00% |
| Other Indo-European* | 302 | 1.53% | 227 | 1.03% |
| Asian Language** | 74 | 0.38% | 145 | 0.66% |
| Other | 36 | 0.18% | 43 | 0.19% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 19,688 | 100.00% | 22,133 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 523 | 47.24% |
| Other Indo-European* | 22 | 9.69% |
| Asian Language** | 51 | 35.17% |
| Other Language | 0 | 0.00% |
| Total | 596 | 2.69% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 191 | 39.71% |
| Other Indo-European* | 103 | 34.11% |
| Asian Language** | 16 | 21.62% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 310 | 1.57% |
* "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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