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 | 22,460 | 98.13% | 23,252 | 97.44% |
| Spanish | 250 | 1.09% | 486 | 2.04% |
| Other Indo-European* | 75 | 0.33% | 85 | 0.36% |
| Asian Language** | 54 | 0.24% | 33 | 0.14% |
| Other | 48 | 0.21% | 6 | 0.03% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 22,887 | 100.00% | 23,862 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 220 | 45.27% |
| Other Indo-European* | 8 | 9.41% |
| Asian Language** | 2 | 6.06% |
| Other Language | 0 | 0.00% |
| Total | 230 | 0.96% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 135 | 54.00% |
| Other Indo-European* | 39 | 52.00% |
| Asian Language** | 31 | 57.41% |
| Other Language | 19 | 39.58% |
| Total | 224 | 0.98% |
* "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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