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 | 24,130 | 95.67% | 26,953 | 96.35% |
| Spanish | 159 | 0.63% | 336 | 1.20% |
| Other Indo-European* | 855 | 3.39% | 528 | 1.89% |
| Asian Language** | 25 | 0.10% | 133 | 0.48% |
| Other | 54 | 0.21% | 25 | 0.09% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 25,223 | 100.00% | 27,975 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 139 | 41.37% |
| Other Indo-European* | 137 | 25.95% |
| Asian Language** | 66 | 49.62% |
| Other Language | 2 | 8.00% |
| Total | 344 | 1.23% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 45 | 28.30% |
| Other Indo-European* | 163 | 19.06% |
| Asian Language** | 11 | 44.00% |
| Other Language | 15 | 27.78% |
| Total | 234 | 0.93% |
* "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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