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 | 18,540 | 96.40% | 19,984 | 93.82% |
| Spanish | 64 | 0.33% | 344 | 1.61% |
| Other Indo-European* | 615 | 3.20% | 910 | 4.27% |
| Asian Language** | 13 | 0.07% | 60 | 0.28% |
| Other | 0 | 0.00% | 3 | 0.01% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 19,232 | 100.00% | 21,301 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 165 | 47.97% |
| Other Indo-European* | 344 | 37.80% |
| Asian Language** | 37 | 61.67% |
| Other Language | 0 | 0.00% |
| Total | 546 | 2.56% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 26 | 40.63% |
| Other Indo-European* | 258 | 41.95% |
| Asian Language** | 8 | 61.54% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 292 | 1.52% |
* "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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