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 | 12,386 | 96.90% | 16,558 | 96.88% |
| Spanish | 185 | 1.45% | 270 | 1.58% |
| Other Indo-European* | 159 | 1.24% | 117 | 0.68% |
| Asian Language** | 38 | 0.30% | 118 | 0.69% |
| Other | 14 | 0.11% | 28 | 0.16% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 12,782 | 100.00% | 17,091 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 101 | 37.41% |
| Other Indo-European* | 29 | 24.79% |
| Asian Language** | 54 | 45.76% |
| Other Language | 0 | 0.00% |
| Total | 184 | 1.08% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 63 | 34.05% |
| Other Indo-European* | 46 | 28.93% |
| Asian Language** | 8 | 21.05% |
| Other Language | 7 | 50.00% |
| Total | 124 | 0.97% |
* "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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