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 | 12,829 | 92.26% | 14,012 | 83.09% |
| Spanish | 811 | 5.83% | 2,592 | 15.37% |
| Other Indo-European* | 218 | 1.57% | 244 | 1.45% |
| Asian Language** | 40 | 0.29% | 3 | 0.02% |
| Other | 7 | 0.05% | 12 | 0.07% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 13,905 | 100.00% | 16,863 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,525 | 58.83% |
| Other Indo-European* | 53 | 21.72% |
| Asian Language** | 0 | 0.00% |
| Other Language | 3 | 25.00% |
| Total | 1,581 | 9.38% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 316 | 38.96% |
| Other Indo-European* | 50 | 22.94% |
| Asian Language** | 5 | 12.50% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 371 | 2.67% |
* "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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