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 | 15,886 | 98.10% | 22,833 | 93.61% |
| Spanish | 145 | 0.90% | 854 | 3.50% |
| Other Indo-European* | 146 | 0.90% | 446 | 1.83% |
| Asian Language** | 16 | 0.10% | 240 | 0.98% |
| Other | 1 | 0.01% | 19 | 0.08% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 16,194 | 100.00% | 24,392 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 436 | 51.05% |
| Other Indo-European* | 158 | 35.43% |
| Asian Language** | 102 | 42.50% |
| Other Language | 0 | 0.00% |
| Total | 696 | 2.85% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 28 | 19.31% |
| Other Indo-European* | 52 | 35.62% |
| Asian Language** | 2 | 12.50% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 82 | 0.51% |
* "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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