UCI

County Economy

Overall ratings of the Orange County economy are much less glowing than last year, although still in positive territory. Today, 58 percent of residents rate the Orange County economy as either excellent or good – a 16-point decline from last year and the least upbeat assessment since 1996. Still, ratings of the county’s economy are much more positive than they were between 1992 and 1996; and today, only 6 percent of Orange County residents think their economy is in poor shape.

Ratings of the county economy are more positive among residents with higher incomes. Those with incomes of $80,000 or more are more likely than those with incomes below $40,000 to say that the Orange County economy is excellent or good (70% to 49%). Nonetheless, nearly half of the residents in the less affluent groups also rate the county’s economy as excellent or good. Whites are more likely than Latinos (62% to 50%), and South County residents are more likely than North County residents (67% to 54%), to rate the county economy in positive terms.

One-quarter of the residents in Orange County think that their economy is in a serious to moderate recession, and another 12 percent say it is in a mild recession. About one in four adults in North County (28%) and South County (21%) and among Latinos (28%) and whites (25%) believe that the county is in a moderate to serious recession. Still, most residents (54%) do not think the county is experiencing this kind of economic trouble. The residents most likely to say that the county is in a serious to moderate recession are those with only a high-school diploma (29%) and those with incomes below $40,000 (31%). However, county residents appear less negative than residents of the state as a whole. For example, in the November 2002 Statewide Survey, nearly 40 percent of Californians thought their region was in a serious to moderate recession.