City of Santa Clarita, California

Community Profile and Demographics...

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DEMOGRAPHICS / Population

The City of Santa Clarita is the fourth largest city in Los Angeles County based on the 2000 Census with a population of 151,088 people. In 2003, the City of Santa Clarita remains the fourth largest city in the county and the 25th largest city in the State of California. The largest city in the county is the City of Los Angeles with over 3.8 million people. Consequently, the city plays an important role in the county based on its size.

Source: California Department of Finance, August 2003

In 2003, the City of Santa Clarita was the fastest growing city among all cities with a population size of at least 150,000 in Los Angeles County and well exceeded the state’s growth rate of 1.7% from the previous year.

Source: California Department of Finance, August 2003

The split between male and females in the city is roughly even. In fact, 50.33% of the city’s population is female and this is comparable to the county’s percentages where males account for 49.4% of the population and females account for 50.6% of the population.


Source: Applied Geographics, 2004 estimates

During the 1990’s the City of Santa Clarita’s population grew by 35.5% from the 1990 population of 112,059 to the 2000 population of 151,800. The growth was due to in-migration to the city limits as well as a number of annexations that occurred since Cityhood in 1987. Annexations occurred in 1991 and 1992 as well as in 1994 and 1997.


Sources: CA Dept. of Finiance, U.S. Bureau of the Census

Housing

The City of Santa Clarita unlike Los Angeles County boasts a much larger share of owner-occupied housing units compared to housing units that are occupied by renters. In Santa Clarita, 72.97% of the housing units are owner-occupied, compared to 49.15% of the housing throughout the County.


Source: Applied Geographics, 2004 estimates

Santa Clarita’s housing vacancy rate in January 2003 was lower that that of the County of Los Angeles.

Source: California Department of Finance, August 2003.

The housing stock in the City of Santa Clarita is relatively newer when compared to the housing stock in the entire County of Los Angeles. The median year for housing units in the City of Santa Clarita is 1991 which indicates that one-half of the housing units were built prior to 1991 and one-half were built after 1991. In comparison, the median year for housing units in Los Angeles County was 1972 indicating the housing stock in the county is substantially older than that of the City.

Source: Claritas, August 2003.

Income

Santa Clarita is a more affluent city compared to Los Angeles County as a whole. The 2004 median household income for Santa Clarita is estimated at $76,127. In comparison, the median household income for Los Angeles County is estimated at $53,239.

The income distribution for households in the City of Santa Clarita illustrates slightly over one-third earn between $75,000 and $100,000.
 

In comparison, slightly more than 11.11% of the households in Los Angeles County earn between $75,000 and $150,000.

Male full-time employees earn substantially more money than female full-time employees. Both men and women in Santa Clarita earn a higher median earning level when compared to their counterparts throughout Los Angeles County and California.
 

Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2000

Further illustrating the wealth in the City of Santa Clarita, the city has a much smaller percentage of families living in poverty when compared to families in the county. Of all families in Santa Clarita, approximately 5% are living in poverty compared to 15% of the families in Los Angeles County.

Source: Clarita's 2003 Estimates, August 2003.

Age

The 2004 median age of the population of the City of Santa Clarita is 33.6 years of age and is slightly older than the county’s median age of 33.2 years. Approximately 30% of the population is between the ages of 25 and 44 while 25% of the population is younger than high school age or 14 years of age.

Source: Clarita's 2003 Estimates, August 2003.

More than one-third of the grandparents living in households with at least one grandchild under the age of 18 are the primary caregivers and are responsible for the grandchildren. This is a slightly higher percentage in Santa Clarita compared to the county and state averages.

Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2000

Race & Ethnicity

The mix of the City’s population is not as diverse as the county’s population. Close to 80% of Santa Clarita’s population describes itself as White. However, due to the large influx of immigrants from a variety of countries as well as the large increase in multi-racial families, two new categories were created in the latest census – “Other 1 Race” and “2+ Races”.

Source: Applied Geographics, 2004 estimates

In comparison, the county as a whole, is more ethnically diverse with less than one-half identified as White. Additionally, more than twice the City’s percentage (13% for the City vs. 29% for the County) are classified as “Other 1 Race” or “2+ Races”.

Source: Applied Geographics, 2004 estimates

Approximately 26% of the City of Santa Clarita’s population is Hispanic compared to approximately 46% of Los Angeles County and under one-third of the State.

Source: Applied Geographics, 2004 estimates

More than 8 in 10 or 83.7% of the population of Santa Clarita are natives or U.S.-born. The remaining 16.3% of the population is foreign born. Of the foreign-born: