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 | 17,765 | 98.39% | 16,439 | 98.37% |
| Spanish | 131 | 0.73% | 93 | 0.56% |
| Other Indo-European* | 148 | 0.82% | 137 | 0.82% |
| Asian Language** | 2 | 0.01% | 12 | 0.07% |
| Other | 10 | 0.06% | 31 | 0.19% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 18,056 | 100.00% | 16,712 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 43 | 46.24% |
| Other Indo-European* | 24 | 17.52% |
| Asian Language** | 10 | 83.33% |
| Other Language | 12 | 38.71% |
| Total | 89 | 0.53% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 28 | 21.37% |
| Other Indo-European* | 27 | 18.24% |
| Asian Language** | 0 | - |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 55 | 0.30% |
* "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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