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 | 20,961 | 94.84% | 21,538 | 89.79% |
| Spanish | 749 | 3.39% | 2,255 | 9.40% |
| Other Indo-European* | 352 | 1.59% | 94 | 0.39% |
| Asian Language** | 32 | 0.14% | 93 | 0.39% |
| Other | 7 | 0.03% | 7 | 0.03% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 22,101 | 100.00% | 23,987 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,158 | 51.35% |
| Other Indo-European* | 19 | 20.21% |
| Asian Language** | 35 | 37.63% |
| Other Language | 7 | 100.00% |
| Total | 1,219 | 5.08% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 379 | 50.60% |
| Other Indo-European* | 116 | 32.95% |
| Asian Language** | 0 | - |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 495 | 2.24% |
* "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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