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 | 11,085 | 97.65% | 14,470 | 96.08% |
| Spanish | 114 | 1.00% | 283 | 1.88% |
| Other Indo-European* | 116 | 1.02% | 241 | 1.60% |
| Asian Language** | 26 | 0.23% | 2 | 0.01% |
| Other | 11 | 0.10% | 65 | 0.43% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 11,352 | 100.00% | 15,061 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 112 | 39.58% |
| Other Indo-European* | 65 | 26.97% |
| Asian Language** | 0 | 0.00% |
| Other Language | 16 | 24.62% |
| Total | 193 | 1.28% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 37 | 32.46% |
| Other Indo-European* | 21 | 18.10% |
| Asian Language** | 4 | 15.38% |
| Other Language | 4 | 36.36% |
| Total | 66 | 0.58% |
* "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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