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 | 21,240 | 98.01% | 21,980 | 92.80% |
| Spanish | 203 | 0.94% | 1,323 | 5.59% |
| Other Indo-European* | 163 | 0.75% | 282 | 1.19% |
| Asian Language** | 50 | 0.23% | 76 | 0.32% |
| Other | 16 | 0.07% | 25 | 0.11% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 21,672 | 100.00% | 23,686 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 765 | 57.82% |
| Other Indo-European* | 66 | 23.40% |
| Asian Language** | 54 | 71.05% |
| Other Language | 12 | 48.00% |
| Total | 897 | 3.79% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 87 | 42.86% |
| Other Indo-European* | 30 | 18.40% |
| Asian Language** | 15 | 30.00% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 132 | 0.61% |
* "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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