REGION: Latinos leading local population growth

North County communities also continue to age

By DAVE DOWNEY - Staff Writer | Monday, December 8, 2008 8:53 PM PST ∞

The Latino population continues to grow faster than other segments of North County communities, and Latinos almost have caught up with whites in Escondido and Vista, according to a new survey released late Monday by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Latinos now make up about 43 percent of all residents of Escondido and Vista, up from 39 percent when the last census was taken in 2000, a report from the bureau's American Community Survey shows. Whites number 47 percent of the people living in Vista and 46 percent of those living in Escondido.

The estimates are based on surveys conducted from 2005 through last year in communities throughout the country with a population of 20,000 or greater.

Reflecting an ongoing statewide trend, the ratio of Latinos to the overall population also increased in Oceanside, Poway, Encinitas, San Marcos and Carlsbad, although the increase was within the survey's margin of potential error for Carlsbad, Encinitas and San Marcos.

Ed Schafer, senior demographer for the San Diego Association of Governments, a regional planning agency, said San Diego County has become quite ethnically diverse during the last two decades, and will continue to become even more diverse.

That demographic trend is reflected in the number of North County homes where Spanish is spoken, including 37 percent in Escondido and Vista, 32 percent in San Marcos and 27 percent in Oceanside.

It also is reflected in the rising proportion of residents born in another country: more than 29 percent in Escondido, 26 percent in Vista, 25 percent in San Marcos, and about 23 percent in Fallbrook and Oceanside.

Over time, San Diego County also is seeing an older population.

The median age is about to reach 40 in the established, affluent communities of Poway and Carlsbad. It is 36 in Fallbrook and about 35 in Oceanside. Throughout North County, the population is aging, although the average age is increasing more slowly in those communities with large Latino populations.

Schafer said Latino families tend to be younger with more children, compared with those in other ethnic groups, and that tends to hold the average age down.

There appears to be no holding the age down, however, in Fallbrook, where the median age has increased by five years.

Regardless of ethnic background, age or financial situation, there are two breadwinners in most households these days, the Census Bureau found.

And many continue to drive long distances to their jobs.

North County's longest one-way commute ---- nearly 32 minutes ---- was for residents of Fallbrook at the northern edge of the county far from job centers, according to the survey. Commutes also approached a half-hour, on average, in Oceanside, Carlsbad, San Marcos, Escondido and Vista.

About three-quarters of North County residents drive to work by themselves.

Enthusiasm for car pools is greatest in Vista, San Marcos, Escondido, Oceanside and Fallbrook, where more than one in 10 commuters share rides. Fewer than one in 10 share rides in Carlsbad and Poway.

Use of public transportation ---- not surprisingly, demographers said ---- is strongest in Oceanside, the confluence of the Coaster, Sprinter and Metrolink commuter trains and the hub of the North County Transit District's bus system. There, close to 5 percent of commuters take the train or bus to work.

That stands in stark contrast with the scant use of public transportation in Fallbrook, 0.5 percent, and Temecula, 0.3 percent, the survey shows. Those communities near the San Diego-Riverside county line have limited bus service and no trains.

Rick Reiss of Temecula, who commutes to downtown San Diego, said it makes more sense to ride in a van pool from where he lives.

"I'd have to drive all the way to Oceanside just to catch a train," Reiss said.

When it comes to affluence and education, not surprisingly, Schafer said, they go hand in hand.

The survey's snapshot found that the most highly educated North County residents continue to live in such cities as Carlsbad, Encinitas and Poway. Carlsbad and Encinitas also have the highest proportion of residents 25 and older with bachelor's degrees, representing more than half the population. And Poway was not far behind at 44 percent.

In addition, one in five Carlsbad and Encinitas workers 25 and older have earned a master's or other advanced degree, the survey showed. In sharp contrast, just 6 percent of Escondido and Vista residents have.

"As the economy gets more and more specialized, you have got to punch your ticket to be able to enjoy the benefits of that specialization," Schafer said. "The college degree is becoming sort of like the entree to high-paying occupations."

Contact staff writer Dave Downey at (760) 745-6611, Ext. 2623, or ddowney@nctimes.com.

Highlights of American Community Survey

Median income

-- Poway: $92,083

-- Carlsbad: $82,009

-- Encinitas: $79,714

-- San Marcos: $67,719

-- Oceanside: $61,813

-- Escondido: $53,191

-- Vista: $52,847

-- Fallbrook: $52,549

Median age

-- Poway: 39.7 years

-- Carlsbad: 39.4

-- Fallbrook: 36.1

-- Oceanside: 34.8

-- Escondido: 33.8

-- San Marcos: 32.6

-- Vista: 31.4

White population

-- Carlsbad: 77 percent

-- Poway: 72.6 percent

-- Oceanside: 50.1 percent

-- San Marcos: 49.3 percent

-- Vista: 46.9 percent

-- Escondido: 46 percent

Latino population

-- Escondido: 43.3 percent

-- Vista: 42.7 percent

-- San Marcos: 37.6 percent

-- Oceanside: 33.7 percent

-- Encinitas: 16.7 percent

-- Poway: 14.2 percent

-- Carlsbad: 12.8 percent

African-American population

-- Oceanside: 5.4 percent

-- Vista: 2.8 percent

-- San Marcos: 2.5 percent

-- Escondido: 2.3 percent

-- Poway: 1.8 percent

-- Carlsbad: 0.8 percent

Asian population

-- Poway: 8.4 percent

-- Oceanside: 7.1 percent

-- San Marcos: 7 percent

-- Carlsbad: 6.9 percent

-- Escondido: 6.2 percent

-- Vista: 3.7 percent

One-way commute to work

-- Fallbrook: 31.7 minutes

-- Oceanside: 29.3 minutes

-- Carlsbad: 29 minutes

-- San Marcos: 27.8 minutes

-- Escondido: 27.6 minutes

-- Vista: 26.7 minutes

-- Poway: 25.7 minutes

Proportion of commuters in car pools

-- Vista: 15.9 percent

-- San Marcos: 15.8 percent

-- Escondido: 15.2 percent

-- Oceanside: 13.6 percent

-- Fallbrook: 13 percent

-- Poway: 9.9 percent

-- Carlsbad: 8.7 percent

Take public transportation to work

-- Oceanside: 4.6 percent

-- Carlsbad: 2.5 percent

-- Escondido: 2.5 percent

-- Vista: 2.5 percent

-- San Marcos: 2 percent

-- Poway: 0.8 percent

-- Fallbrook: 0.5 percent

Earned bachelor's degree

-- Encinitas: 52.9 percent

-- Carlsbad: 51.9 percent

-- Poway: 43.5 percent

-- San Marcos: 29.3 percent

-- Oceanside: 25.5 percent

-- Escondido: 21 percent

-- Vista: 19.3 percent

Spanish spoken in home

-- Escondido: 37.3 percent

-- Vista: 36.7 percent

-- San Marcos: 32.1 percent

-- Oceanside: 26.6 percent

-- Encinitas: 14.5 percent

-- Poway: 11.4 percent

-- Carlsbad: 8.8 percent

Proportion of civilians 18 and older who are veterans

-- Fallbrook: 15.3 percent

-- Poway: 14.8 percent

-- Oceanside: 14.3 percent

-- Vista: 12.1 percent

-- Carlsbad: 11.9 percent

-- Escondido: 10.2 percent

-- San Marcos: 9.2 percent

-- Encinitas: 9 percent

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

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