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 | 16,710 | 95.70% | 16,914 | 93.89% |
| Spanish | 223 | 1.28% | 541 | 3.00% |
| Other Indo-European* | 474 | 2.71% | 550 | 3.05% |
| Asian Language** | 43 | 0.25% | 10 | 0.06% |
| Other | 10 | 0.06% | 0 | 0.00% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 17,460 | 100.00% | 18,015 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 329 | 60.81% |
| Other Indo-European* | 284 | 51.64% |
| Asian Language** | 4 | 40.00% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 617 | 3.42% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 86 | 38.57% |
| Other Indo-European* | 157 | 33.12% |
| Asian Language** | 18 | 41.86% |
| Other Language | 8 | 80.00% |
| Total | 269 | 1.54% |
* "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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