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 | 20,880 | 91.39% | 27,616 | 88.43% |
| Spanish | 1,557 | 6.81% | 3,131 | 10.03% |
| Other Indo-European* | 315 | 1.38% | 329 | 1.05% |
| Asian Language** | 67 | 0.29% | 43 | 0.14% |
| Other | 29 | 0.13% | 110 | 0.35% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 22,848 | 100.00% | 31,229 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,544 | 49.31% |
| Other Indo-European* | 85 | 25.84% |
| Asian Language** | 9 | 20.93% |
| Other Language | 48 | 43.64% |
| Total | 1,686 | 5.40% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 587 | 37.70% |
| Other Indo-European* | 62 | 19.68% |
| Asian Language** | 43 | 64.18% |
| Other Language | 16 | 55.17% |
| Total | 708 | 3.10% |
* "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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