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 | 17,731 | 95.62% | 16,025 | 83.35% |
| Spanish | 174 | 0.94% | 2,143 | 11.15% |
| Other Indo-European* | 296 | 1.60% | 236 | 1.23% |
| Asian Language** | 343 | 1.85% | 794 | 4.13% |
| Other | 0 | 0.00% | 28 | 0.15% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 18,544 | 100.00% | 19,226 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,382 | 64.49% |
| Other Indo-European* | 73 | 30.93% |
| Asian Language** | 530 | 66.75% |
| Other Language | 0 | 0.00% |
| Total | 1,985 | 10.32% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 58 | 33.33% |
| Other Indo-European* | 59 | 19.93% |
| Asian Language** | 254 | 74.05% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 371 | 2.00% |
* "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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