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 | 14,216 | 93.77% | 17,105 | 89.80% |
| Spanish | 767 | 5.06% | 1,704 | 8.95% |
| Other Indo-European* | 90 | 0.59% | 189 | 0.99% |
| Asian Language** | 59 | 0.39% | 37 | 0.19% |
| Other | 28 | 0.18% | 12 | 0.06% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 15,160 | 100.00% | 19,047 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 951 | 55.81% |
| Other Indo-European* | 48 | 25.40% |
| Asian Language** | 4 | 10.81% |
| Other Language | 5 | 41.67% |
| Total | 1,008 | 5.29% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 352 | 45.89% |
| Other Indo-European* | 48 | 53.33% |
| Asian Language** | 26 | 44.07% |
| Other Language | 8 | 28.57% |
| Total | 434 | 2.86% |
* "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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