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 | 23,022 | 97.68% | 28,134 | 97.83% |
| Spanish | 203 | 0.86% | 205 | 0.71% |
| Other Indo-European* | 263 | 1.12% | 325 | 1.13% |
| Asian Language** | 66 | 0.28% | 71 | 0.25% |
| Other | 15 | 0.06% | 23 | 0.08% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 23,569 | 100.00% | 28,758 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 130 | 63.41% |
| Other Indo-European* | 52 | 16.00% |
| Asian Language** | 12 | 16.90% |
| Other Language | 3 | 13.04% |
| Total | 197 | 0.69% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 105 | 51.72% |
| Other Indo-European* | 76 | 28.90% |
| Asian Language** | 0 | - |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 181 | 0.77% |
* "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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