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 | 15,786 | 93.61% | 16,254 | 95.93% |
| Spanish | 123 | 0.73% | 220 | 1.30% |
| Other Indo-European* | 816 | 4.84% | 419 | 2.47% |
| Asian Language** | 44 | 0.26% | 37 | 0.22% |
| Other | 94 | 0.56% | 14 | 0.08% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 16,863 | 100.00% | 16,944 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 71 | 32.27% |
| Other Indo-European* | 94 | 22.43% |
| Asian Language** | 7 | 18.92% |
| Other Language | 0 | 0.00% |
| Total | 172 | 1.02% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 30 | 24.39% |
| Other Indo-European* | 231 | 28.31% |
| Asian Language** | 17 | 38.64% |
| Other Language | 66 | 70.21% |
| Total | 344 | 2.04% |
* "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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