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 | 12,622 | 96.45% | 16,829 | 93.74% |
| Spanish | 295 | 2.25% | 913 | 5.09% |
| Other Indo-European* | 146 | 1.12% | 117 | 0.65% |
| Asian Language** | 18 | 0.14% | 27 | 0.15% |
| Other | 5 | 0.04% | 67 | 0.37% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 13,086 | 100.00% | 17,953 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 482 | 52.79% |
| Other Indo-European* | 7 | 5.98% |
| Asian Language** | 14 | 51.85% |
| Other Language | 0 | 0.00% |
| Total | 503 | 2.80% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 121 | 41.02% |
| Other Indo-European* | 70 | 47.95% |
| Asian Language** | 6 | 33.33% |
| Other Language | 5 | 100.00% |
| Total | 202 | 1.54% |
* "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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