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 | 24,042 | 98.55% | 23,581 | 98.63% |
| Spanish | 128 | 0.52% | 165 | 0.69% |
| Other Indo-European* | 175 | 0.72% | 124 | 0.52% |
| Asian Language** | 33 | 0.14% | 18 | 0.08% |
| Other | 17 | 0.07% | 21 | 0.09% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 24,395 | 100.00% | 23,909 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 44 | 26.67% |
| Other Indo-European* | 36 | 29.03% |
| Asian Language** | 0 | 0.00% |
| Other Language | 0 | 0.00% |
| Total | 80 | 0.33% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 49 | 38.28% |
| Other Indo-European* | 75 | 42.86% |
| Asian Language** | 7 | 21.21% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 131 | 0.54% |
* "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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