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 | 20,065 | 95.18% | 20,901 | 94.90% |
| Spanish | 312 | 1.48% | 465 | 2.11% |
| Other Indo-European* | 663 | 3.14% | 603 | 2.74% |
| Asian Language** | 0 | 0.00% | 47 | 0.21% |
| Other | 42 | 0.20% | 8 | 0.04% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 21,082 | 100.00% | 22,024 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 162 | 34.84% |
| Other Indo-European* | 239 | 39.64% |
| Asian Language** | 5 | 10.64% |
| Other Language | 0 | 0.00% |
| Total | 406 | 1.84% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 88 | 28.21% |
| Other Indo-European* | 264 | 39.82% |
| Asian Language** | 0 | - |
| Other Language | 7 | 16.67% |
| Total | 359 | 1.70% |
* "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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