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 | 16,020 | 98.04% | 15,717 | 96.49% |
| Spanish | 113 | 0.69% | 315 | 1.93% |
| Other Indo-European* | 207 | 1.27% | 154 | 0.95% |
| Asian Language** | 0 | 0.00% | 102 | 0.63% |
| Other | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 16,340 | 100.00% | 16,288 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 169 | 53.65% |
| Other Indo-European* | 27 | 17.53% |
| Asian Language** | 44 | 43.14% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 240 | 1.47% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 58 | 51.33% |
| Other Indo-European* | 73 | 35.27% |
| Asian Language** | 0 | - |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 131 | 0.80% |
* "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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