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 | 22,937 | 97.51% | 23,979 | 97.35% |
| Spanish | 181 | 0.77% | 371 | 1.51% |
| Other Indo-European* | 304 | 1.29% | 247 | 1.00% |
| Asian Language** | 98 | 0.42% | 27 | 0.11% |
| Other | 2 | 0.01% | 7 | 0.03% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 23,522 | 100.00% | 24,631 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 153 | 41.24% |
| Other Indo-European* | 81 | 32.79% |
| Asian Language** | 7 | 25.93% |
| Other Language | 5 | 71.43% |
| Total | 246 | 1.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 52 | 28.73% |
| Other Indo-European* | 49 | 16.12% |
| Asian Language** | 50 | 51.02% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 151 | 0.64% |
* "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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