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 | 23,020 | 98.42% | 24,516 | 94.14% |
| Spanish | 179 | 0.77% | 1,218 | 4.68% |
| Other Indo-European* | 170 | 0.73% | 209 | 0.80% |
| Asian Language** | 15 | 0.06% | 73 | 0.28% |
| Other | 6 | 0.03% | 25 | 0.10% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 23,390 | 100.00% | 26,041 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 659 | 54.11% |
| Other Indo-European* | 43 | 20.57% |
| Asian Language** | 23 | 31.51% |
| Other Language | 6 | 24.00% |
| Total | 731 | 2.81% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 79 | 44.13% |
| Other Indo-European* | 66 | 38.82% |
| Asian Language** | 8 | 53.33% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 153 | 0.65% |
* "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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