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 | 9,103 | 97.39% | 9,434 | 94.55% |
| Spanish | 128 | 1.37% | 381 | 3.82% |
| Other Indo-European* | 60 | 0.64% | 120 | 1.20% |
| Asian Language** | 34 | 0.36% | 23 | 0.23% |
| Other | 22 | 0.24% | 20 | 0.20% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 9,347 | 100.00% | 9,978 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 210 | 55.12% |
| Other Indo-European* | 31 | 25.83% |
| Asian Language** | 4 | 17.39% |
| Other Language | 9 | 45.00% |
| Total | 254 | 2.55% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 51 | 39.84% |
| Other Indo-European* | 13 | 21.67% |
| Asian Language** | 8 | 23.53% |
| Other Language | 12 | 54.55% |
| Total | 84 | 0.90% |
* "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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