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 | 10,279 | 92.60% | 15,320 | 93.27% |
| Spanish | 460 | 4.14% | 922 | 5.61% |
| Other Indo-European* | 322 | 2.90% | 161 | 0.98% |
| Asian Language** | 40 | 0.36% | 16 | 0.10% |
| Other | 0 | 0.00% | 6 | 0.04% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 11,101 | 100.00% | 16,425 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 391 | 42.41% |
| Other Indo-European* | 30 | 18.63% |
| Asian Language** | 7 | 43.75% |
| Other Language | 0 | 0.00% |
| Total | 428 | 2.61% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 206 | 44.78% |
| Other Indo-European* | 81 | 25.16% |
| Asian Language** | 26 | 65.00% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 313 | 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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