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 | 16,944 | 91.93% | 28,756 | 89.09% |
| Spanish | 1,082 | 5.87% | 2,835 | 8.78% |
| Other Indo-European* | 262 | 1.42% | 469 | 1.45% |
| Asian Language** | 77 | 0.42% | 165 | 0.51% |
| Other | 67 | 0.36% | 52 | 0.16% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 18,432 | 100.00% | 32,277 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,312 | 46.28% |
| Other Indo-European* | 80 | 17.06% |
| Asian Language** | 33 | 20.00% |
| Other Language | 11 | 21.15% |
| Total | 1,436 | 4.45% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 441 | 40.76% |
| Other Indo-European* | 51 | 19.47% |
| Asian Language** | 19 | 24.68% |
| Other Language | 8 | 11.94% |
| Total | 519 | 2.82% |
* "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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