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 | 16,935 | 95.58% | 18,888 | 94.56% |
| Spanish | 292 | 1.65% | 382 | 1.91% |
| Other Indo-European* | 438 | 2.47% | 635 | 3.18% |
| Asian Language** | 45 | 0.25% | 58 | 0.29% |
| Other | 8 | 0.05% | 12 | 0.06% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 17,718 | 100.00% | 19,975 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 184 | 48.17% |
| Other Indo-European* | 154 | 24.25% |
| Asian Language** | 40 | 68.97% |
| Other Language | 0 | 0.00% |
| Total | 378 | 1.89% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 111 | 38.01% |
| Other Indo-European* | 126 | 28.77% |
| Asian Language** | 33 | 73.33% |
| Other Language | 2 | 25.00% |
| Total | 272 | 1.54% |
* "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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