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 | 15,317 | 98.60% | 15,292 | 97.21% |
| Spanish | 92 | 0.59% | 179 | 1.14% |
| Other Indo-European* | 103 | 0.66% | 165 | 1.05% |
| Asian Language** | 17 | 0.11% | 95 | 0.60% |
| Other | 5 | 0.03% | 0 | 0.00% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 15,534 | 100.00% | 15,731 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 65 | 36.31% |
| Other Indo-European* | 26 | 15.76% |
| Asian Language** | 52 | 54.74% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 143 | 0.91% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 16 | 17.39% |
| Other Indo-European* | 56 | 54.37% |
| Asian Language** | 9 | 52.94% |
| Other Language | 5 | 100.00% |
| Total | 86 | 0.55% |
* "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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