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 | 15,538 | 97.65% | 19,783 | 96.95% |
| Spanish | 177 | 1.11% | 445 | 2.18% |
| Other Indo-European* | 100 | 0.63% | 128 | 0.63% |
| Asian Language** | 97 | 0.61% | 32 | 0.16% |
| Other | 0 | 0.00% | 17 | 0.08% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 15,912 | 100.00% | 20,405 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 202 | 45.39% |
| Other Indo-European* | 44 | 34.38% |
| Asian Language** | 5 | 15.63% |
| Other Language | 0 | 0.00% |
| Total | 251 | 1.23% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 71 | 40.11% |
| Other Indo-European* | 62 | 62.00% |
| Asian Language** | 24 | 24.74% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 157 | 0.99% |
* "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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