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 | 21,983 | 94.07% | 32,819 | 96.53% |
| Spanish | 504 | 2.16% | 519 | 1.53% |
| Other Indo-European* | 685 | 2.93% | 555 | 1.63% |
| Asian Language** | 36 | 0.15% | 49 | 0.14% |
| Other | 160 | 0.68% | 58 | 0.17% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 23,368 | 100.00% | 34,000 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 85 | 16.38% |
| Other Indo-European* | 131 | 23.60% |
| Asian Language** | 18 | 36.73% |
| Other Language | 19 | 32.76% |
| Total | 253 | 0.74% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 28 | 5.56% |
| Other Indo-European* | 47 | 6.86% |
| Asian Language** | 6 | 16.67% |
| Other Language | 7 | 4.38% |
| Total | 88 | 0.38% |
* "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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