Lincoln County

LANGUAGE

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 27,390 96.63% 31,073 97.17%
Spanish 153 0.54% 201 0.63%
Other Indo-European* 755 2.66% 607 1.90%
Asian Language** 6 0.02% 81 0.25%
Other 41 0.14% 17 0.05%
Total Population Age 5+ 28,345 100.00% 31,979 100.00%

Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000
Language Spoken at Home: Number Percent
Spanish 28 13.93%
Other Indo-European* 126 20.76%
Asian Language** 32 39.51%
Other Language 0 0.00%
Total 186 0.58%

Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990
Language Spoken at Home: Number Percent
Spanish 23 15.03%
Other Indo-European* 166 21.99%
Asian Language** 0 -
Other Language 2 4.88%
Total 191 0.67%

* "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).

Home | About | Help | Contact | Use Policy