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 | 13,586 | 97.24% | 15,536 | 95.29% |
| Spanish | 169 | 1.21% | 474 | 2.91% |
| Other Indo-European* | 176 | 1.26% | 211 | 1.29% |
| Asian Language** | 40 | 0.29% | 79 | 0.48% |
| Other | 0 | 0.00% | 4 | 0.02% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 13,971 | 100.00% | 16,304 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 332 | 70.04% |
| Other Indo-European* | 40 | 18.96% |
| Asian Language** | 43 | 54.43% |
| Other Language | 0 | 0.00% |
| Total | 415 | 2.55% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 96 | 56.80% |
| Other Indo-European* | 68 | 38.64% |
| Asian Language** | 20 | 50.00% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 184 | 1.32% |
* "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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