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 | 25,595 | 97.69% | 23,447 | 96.93% |
| Spanish | 366 | 1.40% | 352 | 1.46% |
| Other Indo-European* | 171 | 0.65% | 295 | 1.22% |
| Asian Language** | 52 | 0.20% | 93 | 0.38% |
| Other | 16 | 0.06% | 3 | 0.01% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 26,200 | 100.00% | 24,190 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 138 | 39.20% |
| Other Indo-European* | 62 | 21.02% |
| Asian Language** | 63 | 67.74% |
| Other Language | 0 | 0.00% |
| Total | 263 | 1.09% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 135 | 36.89% |
| Other Indo-European* | 79 | 46.20% |
| Asian Language** | 10 | 19.23% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 224 | 0.85% |
* "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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