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 | 17,317 | 97.36% | 20,218 | 97.32% |
| Spanish | 246 | 1.38% | 266 | 1.28% |
| Other Indo-European* | 182 | 1.02% | 167 | 0.80% |
| Asian Language** | 20 | 0.11% | 59 | 0.28% |
| Other | 21 | 0.12% | 64 | 0.31% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 17,786 | 100.00% | 20,774 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 123 | 46.24% |
| Other Indo-European* | 9 | 5.39% |
| Asian Language** | 16 | 27.12% |
| Other Language | 0 | 0.00% |
| Total | 148 | 0.71% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 63 | 25.61% |
| Other Indo-European* | 37 | 20.33% |
| Asian Language** | 10 | 50.00% |
| Other Language | 13 | 61.90% |
| Total | 123 | 0.69% |
* "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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