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 | 19,355 | 96.91% | 21,270 | 97.26% |
| Spanish | 290 | 1.45% | 347 | 1.59% |
| Other Indo-European* | 259 | 1.30% | 187 | 0.86% |
| Asian Language** | 47 | 0.24% | 65 | 0.30% |
| Other | 21 | 0.11% | 0 | 0.00% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 19,972 | 100.00% | 21,869 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 107 | 30.84% |
| Other Indo-European* | 53 | 28.34% |
| Asian Language** | 28 | 43.08% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 188 | 0.86% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 34 | 11.72% |
| Other Indo-European* | 120 | 46.33% |
| Asian Language** | 18 | 38.30% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 172 | 0.86% |
* "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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