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 | 17,002 | 96.16% | 16,439 | 95.22% |
| Spanish | 444 | 2.51% | 713 | 4.13% |
| Other Indo-European* | 164 | 0.93% | 62 | 0.36% |
| Asian Language** | 49 | 0.28% | 36 | 0.21% |
| Other | 22 | 0.12% | 15 | 0.09% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 17,681 | 100.00% | 17,265 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 287 | 40.25% |
| Other Indo-European* | 21 | 33.87% |
| Asian Language** | 17 | 47.22% |
| Other Language | 0 | 0.00% |
| Total | 325 | 1.88% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 173 | 38.96% |
| Other Indo-European* | 36 | 21.95% |
| Asian Language** | 23 | 46.94% |
| Other Language | 5 | 22.73% |
| Total | 237 | 1.34% |
* "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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