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 | 18,504 | 97.97% | 18,139 | 97.69% |
| Spanish | 198 | 1.05% | 317 | 1.71% |
| Other Indo-European* | 180 | 0.95% | 64 | 0.34% |
| Asian Language** | 4 | 0.02% | 41 | 0.22% |
| Other | 1 | 0.01% | 6 | 0.03% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 18,887 | 100.00% | 18,567 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 99 | 31.23% |
| Other Indo-European* | 17 | 26.56% |
| Asian Language** | 6 | 14.63% |
| Other Language | 1 | 16.67% |
| Total | 123 | 0.66% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 105 | 53.03% |
| Other Indo-European* | 60 | 33.33% |
| Asian Language** | 0 | - |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 165 | 0.87% |
* "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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