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 | 14,886 | 83.77% | 14,530 | 78.25% |
| Spanish | 2,653 | 14.93% | 3,782 | 20.37% |
| Other Indo-European* | 149 | 0.84% | 181 | 0.97% |
| Asian Language** | 7 | 0.04% | 51 | 0.27% |
| Other | 75 | 0.42% | 25 | 0.13% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 17,770 | 100.00% | 18,569 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,854 | 49.02% |
| Other Indo-European* | 50 | 27.62% |
| Asian Language** | 19 | 37.25% |
| Other Language | 10 | 40.00% |
| Total | 1,933 | 10.41% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,293 | 48.74% |
| Other Indo-European* | 51 | 34.23% |
| Asian Language** | 2 | 28.57% |
| Other Language | 24 | 32.00% |
| Total | 1,370 | 7.71% |
* "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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