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 | 20,176 | 97.73% | 20,740 | 96.94% |
| Spanish | 234 | 1.13% | 402 | 1.88% |
| Other Indo-European* | 182 | 0.88% | 195 | 0.91% |
| Asian Language** | 52 | 0.25% | 50 | 0.23% |
| Other | 0 | 0.00% | 7 | 0.03% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 20,644 | 100.00% | 21,394 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 168 | 41.79% |
| Other Indo-European* | 38 | 19.49% |
| Asian Language** | 31 | 62.00% |
| Other Language | 0 | 0.00% |
| Total | 237 | 1.11% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 83 | 35.47% |
| Other Indo-European* | 28 | 15.38% |
| Asian Language** | 40 | 76.92% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 151 | 0.73% |
* "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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