Milam County

LANGUAGE

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 17,925 84.23% 18,755 82.72%
Spanish 2,556 12.01% 3,350 14.78%
Other Indo-European* 774 3.64% 524 2.31%
Asian Language** 21 0.10% 42 0.19%
Other 5 0.02% 1 0.00%
Total Population Age 5+ 21,281 100.00% 22,672 100.00%

Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000
Language Spoken at Home: Number Percent
Spanish 1,131 33.76%
Other Indo-European* 68 12.98%
Asian Language** 23 54.76%
Other Language 0 0.00%
Total 1,222 5.39%

Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990
Language Spoken at Home: Number Percent
Spanish 1,213 47.46%
Other Indo-European* 177 22.87%
Asian Language** 6 28.57%
Other Language 0 -
Total 1,396 6.56%

* "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).

Home | About | Help | Contact | Use Policy