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 | 17,310 | 97.68% | 17,101 | 97.10% |
| Spanish | 73 | 0.41% | 210 | 1.19% |
| Other Indo-European* | 337 | 1.90% | 258 | 1.46% |
| Asian Language** | 2 | 0.01% | 25 | 0.14% |
| Other | 0 | 0.00% | 18 | 0.10% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 17,722 | 100.00% | 17,612 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 119 | 56.67% |
| Other Indo-European* | 111 | 43.02% |
| Asian Language** | 13 | 52.00% |
| Other Language | 4 | 22.22% |
| Total | 247 | 1.40% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 41 | 56.16% |
| Other Indo-European* | 83 | 24.63% |
| Asian Language** | 2 | 100.00% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 126 | 0.71% |
* "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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