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 | 13,339 | 94.38% | 24,868 | 89.81% |
| Spanish | 481 | 3.40% | 2,057 | 7.43% |
| Other Indo-European* | 270 | 1.91% | 514 | 1.86% |
| Asian Language** | 18 | 0.13% | 194 | 0.70% |
| Other | 25 | 0.18% | 57 | 0.21% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 14,133 | 100.00% | 27,690 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,267 | 61.59% |
| Other Indo-European* | 109 | 21.21% |
| Asian Language** | 76 | 39.18% |
| Other Language | 0 | 0.00% |
| Total | 1,452 | 5.24% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 90 | 18.71% |
| Other Indo-European* | 72 | 26.67% |
| Asian Language** | 6 | 33.33% |
| Other Language | 9 | 36.00% |
| Total | 177 | 1.25% |
* "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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