Census Data
How much has Southern California grown since the last census?
Since the 1990 Census, the Southern California
region has grown from 14.6 million to 16.5 million. An increase
of 12.81%. All of the counties in the SCAG region experienced a
growth of at least 12% with the exception of Los Angeles County,
which grew by 7.4%. In absolute numbers L.A. County grew by 656,286
which was the highest increase in the state.
Are the census figures on track with SCAG's previous projections?
The census counts were approximately
2% lower (340,608) than SCAG previous projections of 16,856,614.
Most of the difference was attributable to Los Angeles County (277,516).
How do the census figures compare to the state's own projections?
The state’s population projections
were also higher than our census counts. The Department of Finance
has argued that the difference is attributable to an undercount
of the population in California, which has been reported as 529,782.
Do these numbers indicate that growth rates throughout the state are generally consistent?
The growth rates across the state ranged
from a decrease of 2.4 % in Modoc County to an increase of 45.1%
in San Benito County. However, the greatest increases continued
to be in the Inland Empire and the Central Valley. These areas grew
at a higher rate than the remaining portions of the state. The Inland
Empire (Riverside and San Bernardino Counties) added over 666,000
persons between 1990 and 2000. The increase is comparable to the
entire population of Kern County.
Which areas of the region saw the most explosive growth?
The Inland Empire continued to grow at
the highest rate both in the SCAG region and statewide. In Imperial
County the City of Calipatria grew 171% between 1990 and 2000, with
the increase primarily the result of the opening of a prison facility
within the city. In Los Angeles County the city with largest percent
increase was Lancaster. Orange County's fastest growing city was
Tustin at 33.2%. Riverside County's fastest growing city was La
Quinta with a growth of 111%, which was similar to the growth rate
of Adelanto (113%) in San Bernardino County. Ventura County’s
fastest growth city was Moorpark at 23.2%
Which area of the region saw the least growth?
The slowest growing cities by County
were Holtville (Imperial County) at 16.4%, Vernon (LA County) –40.1%,
Villa Park (Orange County) –4.8%, Norco (Riverside County)
3.7%, Needles (San Bernardino County) –7.0% and Ojai (Ventura
County) 3.3%. In total there were 16 cities out of 185 that experienced
a population decrease between 1990 and 2000.
Have Hispanics become the majority ethnic group in Southern California?
The Hispanic population now represents
the largest ethnic group (40.57%) followed by White (38.85%), Asian
(10.19%) and African American (7.30%). The white population represents
the largest ethnic group in Orange County (51.26%), Riverside County
(51.04%), and Ventura County (56.75%). The Hispanic population is
the largest ethnic group in Imperial County at 72.22%. Los Angeles
and San Bernardino Counties have no majority ethnic group.
Available Census Data PDF Downloads
Available Census Data Excel Downloads
