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 | 15,917 | 97.73% | 18,572 | 96.99% |
| Spanish | 194 | 1.19% | 312 | 1.63% |
| Other Indo-European* | 128 | 0.79% | 210 | 1.10% |
| Asian Language** | 22 | 0.14% | 44 | 0.23% |
| Other | 25 | 0.15% | 10 | 0.05% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 16,286 | 100.00% | 19,148 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 86 | 27.56% |
| Other Indo-European* | 76 | 36.19% |
| Asian Language** | 25 | 56.82% |
| Other Language | 0 | 0.00% |
| Total | 187 | 0.98% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 49 | 25.26% |
| Other Indo-European* | 12 | 9.38% |
| Asian Language** | 0 | - |
| Other Language | 12 | 48.00% |
| Total | 73 | 0.45% |
* "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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