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 | 18,862 | 89.64% | 19,743 | 92.53% |
| Spanish | 71 | 0.34% | 200 | 0.94% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,067 | 9.82% | 1,334 | 6.25% |
| Asian Language** | 31 | 0.15% | 29 | 0.14% |
| Other | 11 | 0.05% | 30 | 0.14% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 21,042 | 100.00% | 21,336 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 106 | 53.00% |
| Other Indo-European* | 383 | 28.71% |
| Asian Language** | 9 | 31.03% |
| Other Language | 4 | 13.33% |
| Total | 502 | 2.35% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 32 | 45.07% |
| Other Indo-European* | 555 | 26.85% |
| Asian Language** | 11 | 35.48% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 598 | 2.84% |
* "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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