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 | 19,221 | 98.62% | 20,848 | 98.13% |
| Spanish | 116 | 0.60% | 173 | 0.81% |
| Other Indo-European* | 104 | 0.53% | 206 | 0.97% |
| Asian Language** | 41 | 0.21% | 12 | 0.06% |
| Other | 8 | 0.04% | 7 | 0.03% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 19,490 | 100.00% | 21,246 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 98 | 56.65% |
| Other Indo-European* | 21 | 10.19% |
| Asian Language** | 0 | 0.00% |
| Other Language | 0 | 0.00% |
| Total | 119 | 0.56% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 46 | 39.66% |
| Other Indo-European* | 29 | 27.88% |
| Asian Language** | 0 | - |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 75 | 0.38% |
* "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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