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 | 21,192 | 97.21% | 25,799 | 97.57% |
| Spanish | 327 | 1.50% | 400 | 1.51% |
| Other Indo-European* | 200 | 0.92% | 187 | 0.71% |
| Asian Language** | 66 | 0.30% | 56 | 0.21% |
| Other | 16 | 0.07% | 0 | 0.00% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 21,801 | 100.00% | 26,442 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 116 | 29.00% |
| Other Indo-European* | 75 | 40.11% |
| Asian Language** | 23 | 41.07% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 214 | 0.81% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 75 | 22.94% |
| Other Indo-European* | 60 | 30.00% |
| Asian Language** | 14 | 21.21% |
| Other Language | 3 | 18.75% |
| Total | 152 | 0.70% |
* "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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