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 | 25,772 | 94.97% | 24,369 | 92.32% |
| Spanish | 503 | 1.85% | 1,676 | 6.35% |
| Other Indo-European* | 785 | 2.89% | 283 | 1.07% |
| Asian Language** | 75 | 0.28% | 37 | 0.14% |
| Other | 1 | 0.00% | 32 | 0.12% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 27,136 | 100.00% | 26,397 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 930 | 55.49% |
| Other Indo-European* | 97 | 34.28% |
| Asian Language** | 27 | 72.97% |
| Other Language | 5 | 15.63% |
| Total | 1,059 | 4.01% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 255 | 50.70% |
| Other Indo-European* | 219 | 27.90% |
| Asian Language** | 11 | 14.67% |
| Other Language | 1 | 100.00% |
| Total | 486 | 1.79% |
* "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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