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 | 22,123 | 97.69% | 21,674 | 95.95% |
| Spanish | 365 | 1.61% | 781 | 3.46% |
| Other Indo-European* | 136 | 0.60% | 100 | 0.44% |
| Asian Language** | 22 | 0.10% | 17 | 0.08% |
| Other | 0 | 0.00% | 16 | 0.07% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 22,646 | 100.00% | 22,588 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 463 | 59.28% |
| Other Indo-European* | 32 | 32.00% |
| Asian Language** | 8 | 47.06% |
| Other Language | 2 | 12.50% |
| Total | 505 | 2.24% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 120 | 32.88% |
| Other Indo-European* | 47 | 34.56% |
| Asian Language** | 4 | 18.18% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 171 | 0.76% |
* "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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