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 | 15,556 | 98.02% | 15,607 | 97.26% |
| Spanish | 144 | 0.91% | 299 | 1.86% |
| Other Indo-European* | 151 | 0.95% | 106 | 0.66% |
| Asian Language** | 14 | 0.09% | 35 | 0.22% |
| Other | 6 | 0.04% | 0 | 0.00% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 15,871 | 100.00% | 16,047 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 76 | 25.42% |
| Other Indo-European* | 19 | 17.92% |
| Asian Language** | 31 | 88.57% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 126 | 0.79% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 47 | 32.64% |
| Other Indo-European* | 61 | 40.40% |
| Asian Language** | 14 | 100.00% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 122 | 0.77% |
* "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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