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 | 19,226 | 90.59% | 27,603 | 86.53% |
| Spanish | 1,666 | 7.85% | 3,885 | 12.18% |
| Other Indo-European* | 307 | 1.45% | 333 | 1.04% |
| Asian Language** | 9 | 0.04% | 77 | 0.24% |
| Other | 15 | 0.07% | 2 | 0.01% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 21,223 | 100.00% | 31,900 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,588 | 40.88% |
| Other Indo-European* | 37 | 11.11% |
| Asian Language** | 34 | 44.16% |
| Other Language | 0 | 0.00% |
| Total | 1,659 | 5.20% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 553 | 33.19% |
| Other Indo-European* | 57 | 18.57% |
| Asian Language** | 0 | - |
| Other Language | 1 | 6.67% |
| Total | 611 | 2.88% |
* "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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