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 | 20,726 | 95.17% | 21,960 | 87.85% |
| Spanish | 681 | 3.13% | 2,523 | 10.09% |
| Other Indo-European* | 201 | 0.92% | 207 | 0.83% |
| Asian Language** | 137 | 0.63% | 307 | 1.23% |
| Other | 33 | 0.15% | 1 | 0.00% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 21,778 | 100.00% | 24,998 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,721 | 68.21% |
| Other Indo-European* | 62 | 29.95% |
| Asian Language** | 167 | 54.40% |
| Other Language | 1 | 100.00% |
| Total | 1,951 | 7.80% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 352 | 51.69% |
| Other Indo-European* | 48 | 23.88% |
| Asian Language** | 70 | 51.09% |
| Other Language | 8 | 24.24% |
| Total | 478 | 2.19% |
* "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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