Study Confirms O.C. Anglo-Latino Pay Gap : Ethnicity: Blacks and Asians also make less, U.S. Census statistics show, though the gulf is not as great.

Offering a dramatic illustration of the wage gap between the races in Orange County, new U.S. Census statistics reveal that Latinos make little more than half the annual salaries of Anglos in similar occupations.

A computer analysis by The Times of the new census data found that Asians and African-Americans in Orange County also make less than Anglos in like jobs, although the gulf is not as great.

The study found that Anglos in the county average more than $37,000 a year, while Latinos earn about $21,000 annually, Asians make more than $31,000 and blacks earn nearly $30,000. Angos occupy 68% of the jobs in the county, Latinos make up 20% of the work force, Asians are about 9% and blacks are less than 2%.

Nationally, surveys have found that Latinos make about 65% as much as Anglos, but in Orange County they take in only about 57 cents for every dollar earned by an Anglo. Labor experts chalk up the disparity to several factors, most notably the fact that Orange County’s Latino population is relatively youthful and features a large percentage of new immigrants who have just begun to make strides up the economic ladder.

“It’s no surprise because so many of them are new residents here,” said Eleanor Jordan, a labor market analyst with the state Employment Development Department in Orange County. “The higher you get up the educational ladder the more money you’re going to be making. Until more Latinos begin graduating from college, I think it will remain the same.”

Asians also fare relatively poorly in the county compared to their salaries nationally, but Orange County blacks did better than the U.S. average. Blacks in the county make 79% as much as Anglos, compared to about 56% nationally. Asians rank nearly equal with Anglos nationally in wages but make 84% of what Anglos make in Orange County, a finding that experts attribute to the heavy influx of immigrants from Vietnam during the 1980s who have yet to gain much seniority in the labor force.

Latinos trailed most noticeably in high-salaried positions such as physicians, attorneys and business executives. Doctors who are Latino make only about half as much as their Anglo counterparts--$53,000 compared to nearly $103,000. Earnings of Latino attorneys and judges average 68% of those of their Anglo colleagues in the legal profession, $61,500 to more than $90,000. Among business executives and managers, Latinos make 69% of Anglo income.

Yet Latinos also fared badly in several lower-salaried job categories. Latinos make 56% that of Anglos in sales positions, while Latino machine operators make about 58% of that earned by a Anglo counterpart. Health diagnostic employees who are Latino average 52% that of Anglos in the same jobs.

Even in the agricultural fields, where four of five workers are Latino, they earn 66% that of Anglos. Six of 10 janitors in the county are Latino, but they make 68% of wages of Anglos.

Latinos employed as maids, however, did better than Anglos, earning about $18,000 annually compared to $15,000. More than 62% of the maids in Orange County are Latino; 33% are Anglo.

Academicians and activists expressed little surprise over the numbers. But they warned that the new wage statistics represent another sign that Orange County drifted toward economic polarization during the 1980s.

“Orange County is the type of place where you have a very bipolar occupational structure,” said Raul Hinojosa, a UCLA urban planning professor. “There are either the high-paid advanced service jobs or a great deal of low-wage professions. The county doesn’t have a broad-based manufacturing sector like you have in cities such as Los Angeles.”

Hinojosa called the Orange County situation “a snapshot” of what is happening across the nation, as middle-class jobs continue to dry up and the country begins to show a widening rift between the haves and have-nots.

“The only way it’s going to change is for there to be a concerted effort toward retraining the new generation of workers coming up,” Hinojosa said. “The people on the top--the white, older, richer folks--have to recognize that the future of California will depend on educating and working with emerging new populations that are not necessarily white.”

But he also predicted that the wage disparity between Anglos and Latinos in Orange County--like the rest of California--will begin to shrink over the next decade if, as he expects, immigration begins to slow and today’s newcomers weave further into the fabric of society.

While discrimination probably plays some role in the wage gap, education is a far more important force, said John Palacio, Orange County spokesman for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, an immigrants’ rights organization.

“Historically, discrimination has been a factor,” Palacio said. “But there are more important reasons. Half our adult population are immigrants, and their educational skills are considerably less. Education is the key to closing the gap, no question about it.”

The census statistics also demonstrated that Orange County’s relatively small black population represents a formidable wage-earning work force within many professions.

Black doctors earned more than those within any other ethnic group--$121,000 compared to nearly $107,000 for Asians and about $103,000 for Anglos. Blacks also earned the highest wages of any of the races in clerical jobs, food preparation posts and among security guards.

The most equitable wages among the races were in education. Anglo teachers make the most, averaging about $36,500. But blacks earn almost equal pay, while Asian teachers get 97% as much as Anglos and Latinos average 94%.

The Times study was based on just-released census data for California known as the Public Use Microdata Sample. Provided on four reels of computer tape, the data contains the actual responses of a random sample of 5% of all households completing the detailed “long form” census questionnaire. That form was mailed to one of every six residences nationwide. There were 123,183 persons in the Orange County sample. Because the data represents a sample, there is an inherent possibility that the numbers could vary by up to plus or minus one percentage point.

Salary Gap for O.C. Latinos

Latinos, who make up the largest minority group in Orange County, make 57% of what Anglos earn annually. Adjusted Average Salary* Anglos: $37,531 Latinos**: $21,325 Asians: $31,522 Blacks: $29,747 * Adjusted annual pay is calculated to compensate for those whose pay is lower because they work part time or for only part of the year. No adjustment was made for those working more than a 40-hour workweek.

Salary Comparisons

How minority groups compare, as a percent of Anglos’ adjusted average salary: Latinos**: 57% Asians: 84% Blacks: 79% ** Latinos can be of any race

Source: U.S. Census; Researched by RICHARD O’REILLY and MAUREEN LYONS / Los Angeles Times

Top Five Job Groups

Adjusted average salaries for job groups with the most number of workers:

Anglos Latinos Asians Blacks Clerical $24,964 $20,003 $22,728 $25,428 Managerial 51,659 35,741 42,359 35,708 Sales 39,978 22,400 26,092 27,574 Machine operator 28,517 16,561 22,357 27,745 Teacher, counselor 36,546 34,367 35,563 36,048

O.C.’s Employed

Ethnic and racial breakdown of the 1.3 million employed in the county: Anglos: 902,107

Latinos*: 273,519

Asians: 118,142

Blacks: 23,356

* Latinos can be of any race

Source: U.S. Census; Researched by RICHARD O’REILLY and MAUREEN LYONS / Los Angeles Times

Times statistical analyst Maureen Lyons contributed to this story.