CLIPBOARD : Household Size

The average number of people living in a home in Orange County has dropped slightly during the last decade, according to the Census Bureau. There are now 2.8 people per dwelling unit in the county, down 2% from 1980.

Although the overall trend is toward smaller households, there have been some exceptions. Seven cities actually have larger household averages now than 10 years ago, most prominently Santa Ana--where the 3.9 figure is a 23% increase. Another 20 cities recorded downturns--18% in Villa Park was the largest decline--and two had changes that amounted to less than 1%.

Here’s how all the cities and some of the major unincorporated areas compare:

Persons Per % Change Dwelling Since City/Area Unit 1980 Aliso Viejo 2.0 N/A Anaheim 2.9 +4 Brea 2.6 -8 Buena Park 3.0 -1 Costa Mesa 2.4 -4 Coto de Caza 2.6 N/A Cypress 2.9 -9 Dana Point 2.2 -8 El Toro 2.7 -12 Fountain Valley 3.0 -11 Fullerton 2.7 -1 Garden Grove 3.1 +5 Huntington Beach 2.5 -11 Irvine 2.6 -10 Laguna Beach 1.8 -14 Laguna Hills 1.9 +2 Laguna Niguelm 2.4 -13 La Habra 2.7 * La Palma 3.1 -7 Los Alamitos 2.7 -6 Mission Viejo 2.8 -13 Newport Beach 1.9 -15 Orange 2.9 +1 Placentia 3.0 -7 Portola Hills 2.8 N/A Rancho Santa 2.3 N/A Margarita Rossmoor 2.6 -10 San Clemente 2.2 -6 San Juan 2.7 * Capistrano Santa Ana 3.9 +23 Seal Beach 1.7 -10 Stanton 2.8 +2 Trabuco Highlands 2.5 N/A Tustin 2.6 +4 Tustin Foothills 2.9 -11 Villa Park 3.2 -18 Westminster 3.0 +1 Yorba Linda 3.0 -7 COUNTYWIDE 2.8 -2

N/A: Comparative information not available *: Less than 1% Source: U.S. Census Bureau