In many ways the Central Valley's 19 counties are a land apart.
What applies to the rest of the state often does not apply to this 25,000-square mile-region. Culturally, geographically and economically, this region runs by its own rules.
Indeed, if it were a state it would rank near the bottom nationally for per capita income yet the top for agricultural production.
So says a newly released report on the Valley's economy, which illustrates in stark numbers the Central Valley's distinct insularity. The report not only reinforces how much the Valley lags behind the state and nation in terms of income, but also illustrates the unique challenges the region faces in coming years.
The report, "Assessing The Region Via Indicators," looked at a series of economic indicators, from unemployment and transportation to agricultural productivity and housing, to see where the Valley stacks up compared to the state and nation. The Great Valley Center, the nonprofit that conducts the annual study, broke the Central Valley down into four regions and outlined the major economic forces currently at work in each.
While the region, already below many state averages, was hit hard by the recession, much of the report's findings point to the area's preexisting internal contradictions. It has some of the highest population growth, yet the widest income disparity. It has some of the state's highest unemployment rates, lowest wages and highest growth.
Merced County in particular neither ranks at the top nor the bottom when it comes to leading economic indicators. While in some cases -- unemployment and foreclosures -- Merced is near or at the bottom, in other areas it is either average or above average -- agricultural production, for instance.
The following is a brief breakdown of the study's findings.
The Valley's population is projected to double in the next 40 years, which is significantly faster than the rest of the state. The current 19 county region's population, more than 7 million, is projected to stand at roughly 14 million by 2050. Much of this growth will come because of migration.
At the same time, the region's per capita income is among the lowest in the country. In 2007, the Central Valley's per capita income, about $29,000, was 29 percent below the state average. According to the report, if the Central Valley were its own state it would rank as 48th nationally for per capita income. The Valley is also a region with some of the largest wealth disparities between the wealthy and the poor.
The north San Joaquin region, which includes Merced, Stanislaus and San Joaquin counties, has a per capita income -- hovering around $25,000 -- in the middle when compared to the rest of the region. In comparison, it only lagged behind the Sacramento metropolitan region and was on par with the northern Sacramento region when it came to income. That said, the report notes that the north San Joaquin region's per capita income jumped 23 percent from 2000 to 2007.
Housing industry statistics, as might be expected, are equally as dismal as income. New construction permits declined 404 percent in the Central Valley between 2005 and 2008. But the north San Joaquin was hit the hardest. From 2005 to 2008 construction permits decline by 853 percent.
Foreclosure rates hit the region and Merced equally hard. The Valley as a whole saw its foreclosure rate jump 43 percent in one year, 2007-2008. The north San Joaquin had the highest regional foreclosure rate, 7 percent, which is 79 percent higher than the state average.
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