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 | 22,526 | 98.67% | 23,953 | 96.80% |
| Spanish | 127 | 0.56% | 416 | 1.68% |
| Other Indo-European* | 126 | 0.55% | 305 | 1.23% |
| Asian Language** | 49 | 0.21% | 63 | 0.25% |
| Other | 2 | 0.01% | 8 | 0.03% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 22,830 | 100.00% | 24,745 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 202 | 48.56% |
| Other Indo-European* | 53 | 17.38% |
| Asian Language** | 14 | 22.22% |
| Other Language | 0 | 0.00% |
| Total | 269 | 1.09% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 31 | 24.41% |
| Other Indo-European* | 34 | 26.98% |
| Asian Language** | 26 | 53.06% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 91 | 0.40% |
* "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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