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 | 4,991 | 88.02% | 4,366 | 81.39% |
| Spanish | 539 | 9.51% | 823 | 15.34% |
| Other Indo-European* | 71 | 1.25% | 75 | 1.40% |
| Asian Language** | 14 | 0.25% | 13 | 0.24% |
| Other | 55 | 0.97% | 87 | 1.62% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 5,670 | 100.00% | 5,364 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 396 | 48.12% |
| Other Indo-European* | 0 | 0.00% |
| Asian Language** | 7 | 53.85% |
| Other Language | 26 | 29.89% |
| Total | 429 | 8.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 220 | 40.82% |
| Other Indo-European* | 19 | 26.76% |
| Asian Language** | 0 | - |
| Other Language | 6 | 10.91% |
| Total | 245 | 4.32% |
* "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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