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 | 19,862 | 94.01% | 21,041 | 91.52% |
| Spanish | 223 | 1.06% | 353 | 1.54% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,020 | 4.83% | 1,516 | 6.59% |
| Asian Language** | 17 | 0.08% | 59 | 0.26% |
| Other | 5 | 0.02% | 21 | 0.09% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 21,127 | 100.00% | 22,990 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 118 | 33.43% |
| Other Indo-European* | 709 | 46.77% |
| Asian Language** | 10 | 16.95% |
| Other Language | 8 | 38.10% |
| Total | 845 | 3.68% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 61 | 27.35% |
| Other Indo-European* | 441 | 43.24% |
| Asian Language** | 1 | 5.88% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 503 | 2.38% |
* "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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