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 | 17,057 | 97.36% | 21,087 | 88.68% |
| Spanish | 142 | 0.81% | 2,377 | 10.00% |
| Other Indo-European* | 292 | 1.67% | 275 | 1.16% |
| Asian Language** | 22 | 0.13% | 40 | 0.17% |
| Other | 6 | 0.03% | 0 | 0.00% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 17,519 | 100.00% | 23,779 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,696 | 71.35% |
| Other Indo-European* | 85 | 30.91% |
| Asian Language** | 40 | 100.00% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 1,821 | 7.66% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 50 | 35.21% |
| Other Indo-European* | 98 | 33.56% |
| Asian Language** | 0 | - |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 148 | 0.84% |
* "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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