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 | 18,510 | 95.24% | 19,194 | 94.79% |
| Spanish | 48 | 0.25% | 388 | 1.92% |
| Other Indo-European* | 770 | 3.96% | 516 | 2.55% |
| Asian Language** | 86 | 0.44% | 96 | 0.47% |
| Other | 21 | 0.11% | 55 | 0.27% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 19,435 | 100.00% | 20,249 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 111 | 28.61% |
| Other Indo-European* | 98 | 18.99% |
| Asian Language** | 58 | 60.42% |
| Other Language | 0 | 0.00% |
| Total | 267 | 1.32% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 2 | 4.17% |
| Other Indo-European* | 242 | 31.43% |
| Asian Language** | 61 | 70.93% |
| Other Language | 12 | 57.14% |
| Total | 317 | 1.63% |
* "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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