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 | 20,924 | 95.30% | 27,094 | 94.37% |
| Spanish | 183 | 0.83% | 295 | 1.03% |
| Other Indo-European* | 830 | 3.78% | 1,243 | 4.33% |
| Asian Language** | 7 | 0.03% | 66 | 0.23% |
| Other | 11 | 0.05% | 12 | 0.04% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 21,955 | 100.00% | 28,710 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 66 | 22.37% |
| Other Indo-European* | 611 | 49.16% |
| Asian Language** | 41 | 62.12% |
| Other Language | 4 | 33.33% |
| Total | 722 | 2.51% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 75 | 40.98% |
| Other Indo-European* | 333 | 40.12% |
| Asian Language** | 0 | - |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 408 | 1.86% |
* "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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