State Counts 29.3 Million People; O.C. at 2.4 Million : Census: Santa Ana pulls ahead of Anaheim as most populated. New congressional seat a possibility.

With mushrooming growth in the Sierra Nevada foothills, the Central Valley and major cities, California gained 5.6 million residents in the last decade and reinforced its standing as the country’s most populous, ethnically diverse and politically powerful state, according to preliminary U.S. Census figures released Monday.

California grew by 24%, bringing its total population to 29.28 million people, the census figures showed. Officials said the figures are subject to adjustment and will not become final until early 1991, but California’s population gain is expected to be the largest among the states.

As a result of the growth, California stands to gain seven congressional seats--one of which could be carved within Orange County--which would make it the first state to have more than 50 elected representatives.

Orange County, with a preliminary census population of 2,391,968, grew 24% over the decade, a modest gain compared to boom counties such as Riverside. But in such towns as Yorba Linda and Irvine, new housing developments have sent populations surging more than three times the county growth rate.

Santa Ana outstripped Anaheim as the county’s most populous city with a whopping 41% jump, the result of the community’s massive campaign to educate and count vast numbers of undocumented Latinos and other immigrants.

“I’ve always believed we were the largest city, but now we have the numbers to prove it,” said Santa Ana City Councilman Miguel A. Pulido Jr., who praised census workers and the community’s efforts to get an accurate count. “It’s a big victory for Santa Ana.”

Santa Ana had contended that the city’s population was undercounted by about 50,000 in the 1980 census because it failed to reach the undocumented population. The new census could mean about $4 million more a year when the city’s share of everything from state vehicle license fees to federal grants are tallied, a substantial increase that will mean better services for the population it has had all along, Pulido said.

In the 1992 congressional elections, California will probably choose 12% of the 435 members of the U.S. House of Representatives. That would be the largest percentage chosen by any state since 1860, when New York elected 13% of the House. California’s increased influence in Congress would also be felt in the presidential elections. The state would cast 54 electoral votes, more than one-fifth of the 270 needed to win the White House.

Orange County political observers have speculated that the census numbers could net a sixth congressional seat, particularly in the fast growing southern and eastern portions of the county.

However, Brett Barbre, a special assistant to Rep. William E. Dannemeyer (R-Fullerton), said a more likely scenario would see Carlsbad Republican Rep. Ron Packard’s district lose its Orange County precincts, permitting the creation of a new, predominantly conservative district from the high growth areas in southern Orange County.

While the population explosion could benefit the state through increased federal funding and political power, experts said it also will aggravate a number of the state’s problems, including overcrowded schools, an inadequate transportation network and deteriorating air and water quality.

“California is changing more than any society in this nation,” said Alan Heslop, a government professor at Claremont McKenna College and an authority on population trends.

About one in nine U.S. residents now live in California, giving the state more people than Canada or Australia and all but 28 of the world’s countries. In the last decade alone, one-fourth of the U.S. population growth has occurred in California, according to a study released earlier this year by the Palo Alto-based Center for Continuing Study of the California Economy.

About half of the state’s growth in the 1980s was the result of immigration from foreign countries and other states, and about half was because births in the state exceeded deaths, the study said. The state’s combined population of Latinos, Asians and African-Americans is expected to make up 40% of its population in the final 1990 census and nearly 50% by the year 2000.

The preliminary figures do not include breakdowns by ethnic groups. But Orange County, in particular, will see a dramatic increase in the Latino and Asian populations when those numbers are available, census officials predicted.

“It’s going to be a real sharp change . . . and I think it’s going to surprise a lot of people,” said Fernando Tafoya, district manager for the U.S. Census Bureau’s Orange County office.

“What this is going to do is force Orange County to redefine itself as a county,” he said. “The increases in the number of different languages spoken and the non-white groups in the county is going to have a tremendous impact on the way the county operates.”

Among the state’s growth leaders is Riverside County, which grew 72% in the decade, with its population jumping from 663,000 to 1.1 million. Riverside County and San Bernardino County, which grew by 56%, made the Inland Empire the fastest-growing major metropolitan area in the nation, according to census reports.

Riverside County Supervisor Norton Younglove said: “Quite frankly, it’s an honor I’d just as soon have done without. (Growth) has come too fast.”

Some of the state’s most spectacular growth also occurred in the Sierra Nevada foothills. Placer County grew fastest, with an increase of about 54,000 people or 46%. To the south, Tuolumne County grew by just over 14,000 people, or 42%. In Central California, Stanislaus County grew by about 101,000 people, or 38%.

This growth is causing changes that are not always welcome, as evident in Tuolumne County, where a boom in new construction is accompanied by traffic jams. “We have a lot of people coming in from urban areas,” said Bev Shane, the county’s assistant director of planning. “They love open spaces but they also want shopping centers and other types of growth.”

By sheer numbers of people, Los Angeles County experienced the greatest influx, with an increase of 1,242,000 people, or 17%. San Diego County was second, growing by 604,000 people. Among the slowest-growing areas in the state are San Francisco, with a 5% growth rate, and Marin County, with 2%. One Marin County city, Sausalito, actually lost 7% of its 1980 population, declining from 7,338 to 6,857, although Mayor Annette Rose said the drop was probably due to miscounting the several hundred residents living on houseboats or in obscure rural areas. She said census takers made a similar error in 1980 and the city’s population had to be revised later.

Kern County grew by 33%, Sacramento County by 31%, Fresno County by 28%, Orange County by 24%, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties by 23% and Contra Costa County by 21%.

Among the fastest-growing cities in the state was Palmdale, where a 330% growth rate took the city from a paltry 15,197 to 65,357, making it one of many desert communities north and east of Los Angeles that are attracting former city dwellers in search of affordable housing. Fresno was second among larger cities, with a population increase of 61%, followed by Santa Ana with 41%, Stockton with 36%, Sacramento 32%, San Jose with 22%, Anaheim with 21%, Los Angeles with 15% and Oakland with 6%.

Among smaller cities in Orange County, the biggest gainers were Yorba Linda with 84%, Irvine with 77%; Tustin with 56%; San Clemente with 50%; and San Juan Capistrano with 37%. Laguna Beach is up 29% over 1980, but that reflects the addition of South Laguna to the city.

Growth was not universal, however. Villa Park declined in population by 12%, with La Palma down 11%, Seal Beach down 5% and Fountain Valley down 3%.

The census count in 41 of the 46 states that received their preliminary figures has been about 1.6% below the Census Bureau’s own projections, with California a notable exception, said Kimball Brace, president of Election Data Services, a political consulting firm that specializes in the census. California’s figure is estimated to be one-tenth of 1% below the census projections, Brace said.

However, Los Angeles Deputy City Atty. Jessica Heinz said she believes that minorities and the homeless are still being undercounted in Los Angeles. For example, she said, 70,000 census mailings initially went undelivered in South-Central Los Angeles alone, while 31% of the area’s census data was gathered second-hand from neighbors rather than directly from residents. “That’s darn bad,” she said.

Times staff writers Kristina Lindgren in Orange County, Jenifer Warren in Riverside, and Jill Stewart and researcher Cecilia Rasmussen in Los Angeles contributed to this story.

POPULATION INCREASES Orange County cities with largest growth in population, 1980-90 Yorba linda (+84%) 1980: 28,253 1990: 52,120 Irvine (+77%) 1980: 62,134 1990: 109,935 Tustin (+56%) 1980: 32,317 1990: 50,349 San Clemente (+50%) 1980: 27,325 1990: 40,905 Santa Ana (+41%) 1980: 203,713 1990: 287,987 Source: U.S. Census Bureau

PRELIMINARY CENSUS FIGURES

City 1980 1990 % Change Anaheim 219,312 264,959 +21 Brea 27,913 32,676 +17 Buena Park 64,165 68,026 +6 Costa Mesa 82,562 96,025 +16 Cypress 40,391 42,582 +5 Dana Point** N/A 31,528 -- Fountain Valley 55,080 53,405 -3 Fullerton 102,034 112,476 +10 Garden Grove 123,305 141,133 +14 Huntington Beach 170,505 180,476 +6 Irvine 62,134 109,935 +77 Laguna Beach 17,901 23,055 +29 Laguna Niguel** N/A 42,913 -- La Habra 45,232 50,170 +11 La Palma 15,400 13,692 -11 Los Alamitos 11,529 11,653 +1 Mission Viejo** N/A 69,951 -- Newport Beach 62,556 66,453 +6 Orange 91,787 109,677 +19 Placentia 35,041 40,477 +16 San Clemente 27,325 40,905 +50 San Juan Capistrano 18,959 25,978 +37 Santa Ana 203,713 287,987 +41 Seal Beach 25,975 24,733 -5 Stanton 23,724 30,047 +27 Tustin 32,317 50,349 +56 Villa Park 7,137 6,279 -12 Westminster 71,133 77,792 +9 Yorba Linda 28,253 52,120 +84 TOTAL* 1,932,709 2,391,968 +24

* Totals include population of unincorporated county areas ** Were not incorporated cities in 1980 Source: U.S. Census Bureau