County Poverty Gap Wider, Census Survey Says

By JENIFER RAGLAND and FRED ALVAREZ

Nov. 20, 2001 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITERS

A new Census Bureau survey shows that one-third of Ventura County’s residents speak a language other than English at home, 10% live in poverty, and one-fifth of adults have not earned a high school diploma.

At the same time, the county’s median household income and median home value rank within the top 10 of California counties with populations of 250,000 or more, according to the data released Monday.

The Census Bureau surveyed nearly 1,000 of Ventura County’s 250,000 households in an effort to more quickly collect and distribute demographic data to communities. While inconclusive, the numbers may be indicative of the 2000 census, to be released in the spring.

Some county leaders see the survey results as a sign of a growing gap between the haves and the have-nots.

“A good many people seem to be enjoying the fruits of a good economy,” Supervisor John Flynn said. “But there appears to be a widening separation between those who are making it and those struggling to get there.”

The survey compares Ventura County with the nation’s large counties in categories measuring demographic, social and economic trends. No Ventura County cities were large enough to be included in the national survey.

In terms of housing prices, the results confirm what local analysts have been saying for years, said Mark Schniepp, director of the Center for Regional Economic Research in Santa Barbara.

“It really is exposing the fact that we have a housing crisis in the state and that it’s acute in Ventura County,” he said.

Despite the county’s strong statewide ranking in both median home value--$250,615--and median household income--$55,521--the former ranks 16th in the nation, but the latter ranks 52nd.

“That shows a big disparity,” Schniepp said. “Relative to the rest of the nation, we don’t have the incomes necessary to buy the median-priced home.”

Since the census survey was taken in April, Schniepp said, home prices have continued to climb at a higher rate than income levels.

“I would say the gap has widened further in that time,” he said.

Although Census Bureau officials cautioned against comparing the survey data to that from the 1990 census, the results reflect an anticipated upward economic trend. In 1990, Ventura County’s household income was $45,612 and the median home value was $245,300.

In 1990, 7.3% of the county’s residents were living below the federal poverty level of $12,674 for a family of four. The county’s poverty rate rose to 10% in 2000, according to the survey, though still below the 13.9% statewide rate.

The county ranks 15th in the state and 116th in the nation.

The rise in the number of non-English speakers--particularly Spanish-speaking residents--mirrors a surge in the county’s Latino population over the past decade.

The census survey reveals that as much as 35% of the population speaks a language other than English in the home. Spanish is the most dominant of those languages, with as much as 28% of the population speaking it at home, compared with 20% in 1990.

That means Ventura County has the 11th-largest Spanish-speaking population among counties in California, behind Santa Barbara, Los Angeles and Orange counties.

However, some say the preliminary numbers can be deceiving.

Karl Lawson, an Oxnard housing official who led the city’s census outreach program, said there is not enough data to draw conclusions about the apparent rise in the number of Spanish-speaking residents.

But there could be a growing number of households like his own, where both English and Spanish are spoken.

“It will take some careful parsing of the data to determine what conclusions we can draw.” he said.