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 | 15,415 | 87.04% | 16,349 | 83.15% |
| Spanish | 2,042 | 11.53% | 3,043 | 15.48% |
| Other Indo-European* | 182 | 1.03% | 175 | 0.89% |
| Asian Language** | 56 | 0.32% | 47 | 0.24% |
| Other | 15 | 0.08% | 49 | 0.25% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 17,710 | 100.00% | 19,663 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,413 | 46.43% |
| Other Indo-European* | 50 | 28.57% |
| Asian Language** | 2 | 4.26% |
| Other Language | 19 | 38.78% |
| Total | 1,484 | 7.55% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 820 | 40.16% |
| Other Indo-European* | 79 | 43.41% |
| Asian Language** | 35 | 62.50% |
| Other Language | 1 | 6.67% |
| Total | 935 | 5.28% |
* "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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