Incomes in City Rise, But So Does Cost of Housing

San Diegans are more likely to live in an apartment than a home, have two bedrooms rather than one or three, and pay about $600 for rent--a full 38% of their household income, according to U.S. Census figures released today.

The per capita income of San Diego residents for 1989 was $16,401 a year, an increase of 23% in 10 years after adjustment for inflation. The city’s per capita income is slightly more than the figure countywide, but $8 shy of the statewide figure.

The San Diego median household income increased by 37% from 1979 to 1989, after adjusting for inflation, according to the census data.

But at the same time, the cost of housing took a bigger chunk out of San Diegans’ wallets. For example, one census indicator of lack of affordable housing is how many households pay an uncomfortable 35% of their income on mortgage or rent. That accounted for 38% of renters, compared with 36% a decade ago. Some 22% of homeowners pay that portion of their income on their mortgage, compared with 16% in the last census.

San Diego City Councilman Ron Roberts said the rise in incomes was surprising, and perhaps some of the best news of the census figures so far.

But the cost of housing, he said, “clearly is not the good news. That’s what we’ve got to figure out: how to bring down the cost of housing, versus driving it up to ever-increasing heights.”

San Diegans are better educated than they were 10 years ago. In 1980, 79% had completed high school, and 24% had a college degree, while a decade later 82% had finished high school and 30% earned a college degree, making them slightly better educated than the county as a whole and considerably more schooled than Californians as a whole.

Many San Diegans had little time to put down roots in their homes. About one in three had moved to their residence within the year before the census, although 38% had lived in the same home for at least five years. Less than half--45%--are California natives. And among the city’s 1.1 million residents, one in five, 21%, are foreign-born, a considerable increase over the 15% the census found a decade ago.

That change is reflected in the increasing numbers of San Diegans who do not speak English at home.

In 1980, 19% of the city’s residents said they didn’t speak English at home; in 1990 the figure shot up to 29%.

Additionally, 14% said in 1990 that they don’t speak English “very well,” twice the 7% a decade ago.

Seventeen percent of the city’s residents speak Spanish at home; an additional 9% speak an Asian or Pacific Island language at home.

“These numbers mean we have to continue our efforts to not only understand, but to allow those many (ethnic) communities to succeed here in San Diego,” Roberts said. “The diversity we’ve seen can be a strength if we understand it and don’t fear it, and make it a basic part of the fabric of the community.”

San Diego households are less likely than households countywide to be composed of a traditional, nuclear family, the 1990 census found. In San Diego, 38% of the households were so-called “non-family,” compared with 32% countywide.

The percentage of households living below the poverty level was also slightly higher in the city--13%, compared to 11% countywide. About 9% of the city’s households received some sort of public assistance, compared to 8% countywide.

San Diego city’s housing stock also was older than the county’s as a whole--no surprise, since much of the county’s growth during the 1980s was in North County. Nearly a third of the city’s housing units are at least 40 years old, compared with about a quarter countywide.

Conversely, 26% of the city’s residential units have been built since the 1980 census, compared with 30% countywide.

In San Diego, 78% of the persons 16 or older are in the labor force, significantly more than the 68% countywide. Among the city’s labor force, 6.6% of the men and 5.8% of the women were unemployed at the time the 1990 census was taken.

Some 71% of workers who live in the city drove alone to work and 13% car-pooled. The average commute time was 20.4 minutes, a couple of minutes less in transit than the countywide average of 22.2 minutes.

Not everyone in San Diego can--or wants to--drive to work. In one of 10 occupied housing units in the city, no vehicles are present. On the other hand, 17% of the city’s homes have three or more vehicles available.

By more than a 2-to-1 margin, gas is preferred over electricity as a way to heat homes in San Diego.

But nearly 6,000 housing units in the city have no heating at all, and nearly 3,000 don’t have complete plumbing facilities, the census found.

City’s Census Highlights

Highlights of the newest 1990 Census data for the city of San Diego:

* Per-capita income in 1989 was $16,401, an increase of 23% over 10 years even after adjusting for inflation.

* 38% of renters pay 35% or more of their income to the landlord; that’s true of 22% of homeowners.

* The median rent in 1989 was $602 a month; the median mortgage payment was $1,099.

* 82% of the city’s residents over the age of 25 have a high-school degree.

* 30% have a college degree, an improvement over 1980.

* One-in-five of the city’s residents are foreign-born.

* Almost half are native Californians.

* Nearly one in three don’t speak English at home.

* 14% say they don’t speak English “very well.”

* Nearly four in 10 households in San Diego are not made up of the traditional nuclear family.

* Nearly a third of the housing stock is at least 40 years old.

* A quarter of the housing units have been constructed since 1980.

* Nearly 6,000 housing units lack heating.

* Nearly 3,000 housing units lack complete plumbing.

* Seven out of 10 workers drive alone, and 13% car-pool.