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 | 21,245 | 96.08% | 23,823 | 94.77% |
| Spanish | 357 | 1.61% | 746 | 2.97% |
| Other Indo-European* | 456 | 2.06% | 439 | 1.75% |
| Asian Language** | 22 | 0.10% | 65 | 0.26% |
| Other | 31 | 0.14% | 64 | 0.25% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 22,111 | 100.00% | 25,137 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 208 | 27.88% |
| Other Indo-European* | 81 | 18.45% |
| Asian Language** | 33 | 50.77% |
| Other Language | 18 | 28.13% |
| Total | 340 | 1.35% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 103 | 28.85% |
| Other Indo-European* | 135 | 29.61% |
| Asian Language** | 20 | 90.91% |
| Other Language | 13 | 41.94% |
| Total | 271 | 1.23% |
* "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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