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 | 14,585 | 95.45% | 18,932 | 94.45% |
| Spanish | 224 | 1.47% | 589 | 2.94% |
| Other Indo-European* | 380 | 2.49% | 368 | 1.84% |
| Asian Language** | 28 | 0.18% | 42 | 0.21% |
| Other | 63 | 0.41% | 113 | 0.56% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 15,280 | 100.00% | 20,044 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 216 | 36.67% |
| Other Indo-European* | 61 | 16.58% |
| Asian Language** | 11 | 26.19% |
| Other Language | 17 | 15.04% |
| Total | 305 | 1.52% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 93 | 41.52% |
| Other Indo-European* | 53 | 13.95% |
| Asian Language** | 10 | 35.71% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 156 | 1.02% |
* "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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