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 | 11,663 | 97.31% | 11,306 | 96.23% |
| Spanish | 191 | 1.59% | 358 | 3.05% |
| Other Indo-European* | 52 | 0.43% | 52 | 0.44% |
| Asian Language** | 77 | 0.64% | 3 | 0.03% |
| Other | 2 | 0.02% | 30 | 0.26% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 11,985 | 100.00% | 11,749 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 110 | 30.73% |
| Other Indo-European* | 20 | 38.46% |
| Asian Language** | 0 | 0.00% |
| Other Language | 14 | 46.67% |
| Total | 144 | 1.23% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 47 | 24.61% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2 | 3.85% |
| Asian Language** | 53 | 68.83% |
| Other Language | 2 | 100.00% |
| Total | 104 | 0.87% |
* "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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