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 | 20,492 | 98.81% | 22,968 | 96.34% |
| Spanish | 161 | 0.78% | 648 | 2.72% |
| Other Indo-European* | 56 | 0.27% | 102 | 0.43% |
| Asian Language** | 19 | 0.09% | 94 | 0.39% |
| Other | 11 | 0.05% | 29 | 0.12% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 20,739 | 100.00% | 23,841 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 352 | 54.32% |
| Other Indo-European* | 20 | 19.61% |
| Asian Language** | 61 | 64.89% |
| Other Language | 15 | 51.72% |
| Total | 448 | 1.88% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 67 | 41.61% |
| Other Indo-European* | 16 | 28.57% |
| Asian Language** | 0 | - |
| Other Language | 11 | 100.00% |
| Total | 94 | 0.45% |
* "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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