Anglos Rank Highest in Home Ownership : Census: Data shows that possession of a dwelling is becoming an elusive goal for California baby boomers of all ethnic groups.

By KEVIN RODERICK

May 11, 1991 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

Anglos and Asians in California more commonly own their homes, while Latinos and blacks usually rent, according to preliminary data from the 1990 census.

For people of any race or ethnicity, home ownership has become an elusive goal for a majority of California’s baby boomers. They were age 25 to 44 when the census was conducted, and in that group only 45% who are the head of a household own their home.

Of those between 25 and 34, the time of life when most Americans used to be married and buying a first house, fewer than 35% now own a home. But among households where the person who filled out the census forms was 45 or older, more than 70% own.

The home ownership information was included in a detailed release of social and lifestyle data about California from the 1990 census that was delivered to state officials this week. The first reports found California’s family life in transition, with only 27% of homes containing a married couple with children and more people experimenting with unconventional living arrangements.

Even so, the data analyzed Friday found that more than 13.8 million Californians live in their own single-family, detached houses, and another 4 million live in rented houses.

Another 1 million live in condominiums or townhouses they own, and slightly more people rent such units. Another 1 million live in mobile homes, and most of the 9 million or so others live in apartments or duplexes.

Reports earlier in the week found that the median home value in California had doubled since the last census in 1980, to about $195,000. The new data shows a wide disparity in the level of accommodations, with 2.8 million Californians residing in homes of three or fewer rooms, and another 1,008,000 in homes with eight or more rooms.

Of all the social factors determining living situation, race and ethnicity of the chief householder appeared to weigh the heaviest.

The census designates the householder as the person who owns the home or pays the rent, or who was listed first on the census questionnaire that every household in the country was asked to complete on April 1, 1990. The 2.4 million Californians who live alone are considered the heads of their own households.

Homes where the householder was an Anglo were most likely to be owned by the occupants. The owner lives in more than 61% of all Anglo households.

People who told census-takers they were Asian constituted the only other ethnic grouping of households where a majority of the homes are owner-occupied. About 55% of Asian households are owned by the occupants.

The figure for homes occupied by the property owner was 40% for Latino-headed households, 36% for blacks and 47% for American Indians. Both Latinos and blacks had higher rates of homeownership a decade ago.

The numbers, while illustrating general trends, are less useful as a precise measure of the social pulse in California, an adviser to the U.S. Census Bureau cautioned Friday.

UCLA professor Leo Estrada said the racial and ethnic categories used on the census questionnaires were too narrowly drawn. Many millions of people with parents of mixed heritage, or from ethnic backgrounds not singled out by the Census Bureau, did not know how to respond when asked to choose a category from among white, black, Asian, American Indian or Eskimo and Aleut.

“We know that these children have got to be confused,” Estrada said. “I’ve been arguing with people for years that our society has become too complex” for the official census categories.

For example, about half of Latinos checked “other race” instead of trying to fit into a traditional racial group. About 45% of Latinos labeled themselves as white, and the rest picked another traditional category.

People are counted as Latino if they answered yes when asked on the Census form if they were of “Spanish/Hispanic origin.” The Census Bureau regards this “Hispanic” category as an ethnic description, not a racial group.

This round of census data also included details on ethnic nationality that go beyond the racial categories released earlier. People who said they were of Mexican heritage are the largest single ethnic nationality among California minorities. The 6.1 million people with roots in Mexico dwarf all other Latino nationalities and are almost triple the black population in California.

Filipinos are the most numerous group among the burgeoning Asian population. Among Asians, 731,000 are Filipinos and 704,850 are Chinese.

Race appears to play a role in virtually all aspects of California society, including those who are the oldest residents.

There are now 676,522 Californians who are age 80 or older, about 70% of them women. Anglos are represented in this group far out of proportion to their share of the population, making up nearly 80% of the 80-and-older group.

Census Snapshot

Here is a look at the ethnic and racial breakdown of Californians from the 1990 census.

The total does not equal the state population of 29,760,021; some people put themselves in more than one racial category or checked other. WHITE*: 17,029,126 BLACK*: 2,092,446

LATINO

Mexican: 6,118,996

Puerto Rican: 126,417

Cuban: 71,977

Other nations: 1,370,548

Total: 7,687,938

AMERICAN INDIAN, ESKIMO OR ALEUT

American Indian: 236,078

Aleut: 3,534

Eskimo: 2,552

Total: 242,164

ASIAN