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 | 23,401 | 97.87% | 23,333 | 97.14% |
| Spanish | 296 | 1.24% | 469 | 1.95% |
| Other Indo-European* | 147 | 0.61% | 146 | 0.61% |
| Asian Language** | 57 | 0.24% | 14 | 0.06% |
| Other | 9 | 0.04% | 57 | 0.24% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 23,910 | 100.00% | 24,019 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 144 | 30.70% |
| Other Indo-European* | 45 | 30.82% |
| Asian Language** | 7 | 50.00% |
| Other Language | 9 | 15.79% |
| Total | 205 | 0.85% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 109 | 36.82% |
| Other Indo-European* | 71 | 48.30% |
| Asian Language** | 23 | 40.35% |
| Other Language | 6 | 66.67% |
| Total | 209 | 0.87% |
* "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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