Economics

  Approximately 25% of foreign-born Latinos and Southeast Asians in California live at or below the federal poverty line.

  Californians in the top 20% of income brackets earned an average of $146,066 from 1996-1998, while those in the bottom 20% earned an average salary of $12,239.

  Without any credit history at all, many new Americans cannot hope to access traditional methods of financing business development and homeownership.

  Only 7.3% of homes in San Francisco, and 26.1% in Oakland are considered “affordable for median income” by the National Association of Home Builders.

  It takes earnings of $33.60 an hour for a family of four to live in San Francisco, and $23.90 for the same family to live in Oakland.

Population

  Between 1970 and 2000, the number of immigrants in California increased five-fold, from 1.8 million to 8.9 million.

  One in four Californians (26%) is an immigrant, a higher proportion than any other state.

  Most of California's immigrants (89%) are from Latin America (56%) or Asia (33%). 

  Four of California's largest cities have majority immigrant populations. Glendale (54% foreign-born), Santa Ana (53%), Daly City (52%), and El Monte (51%) all have majority immigrant populations.

  Poverty rates are substantially higher for immigrants (18% in 2000) than U.S. natives (12%).

  Immigrants in California are concentrated in young-adult age groups. Half of California's immigrants were between the ages of 22 and 44 in 2000, compared to less than 30% of the state's U.S.-born residents.

From Just the Facts:  Immigrants in California by the Public Policy Institute of California, July 2002.  For more information, please visit their web site at www.ppic.org.