California's San Joaquin Valley: A Region in Transition

Publication Date: December 2005

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

Author(s):

Research Area: Economics

Type:

Coverage: California

Abstract:

CRS was requested to undertake a study of the San Joaquin Valley (SJV) and a comparison with another U.S. region. The eight-county San Joaquin Valley, part of California's Central Valley, is home to 5 of the 10 most agriculturally productive counties in the United States. By a wide range of indicators, the SJV is also one of the most economically depressed regions of the United States. This report analyzes the SJV's counties and statistically documents the basis of current socioeconomic conditions. The report further explores the extent to which the SJV shares similarities with and differs from the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) area and a 68county Central Appalachian subregion which contains some of the most economically distressed counties in Appalachia. The report also examines the role of federal expenditures in the cities and counties of the SJV.

During the past twenty-five years, population growth rates in the SJV were significantly higher than for California or the United States and their projected growth rates over the next 20 years are also significantly higher. In 2000, the SJV also had substantially higher rates of poverty than California or the United States. Poverty rates were also significantly higher in the SJV than in the ARC region, although the rate is somewhat lower than that of the Central Appalachian subregion. Unemployment rates in the SJV were higher than in California or the United States and the ARC area. Per capita income and average family income were higher in the SJV than in Central Appalachia, but per capita income in the SJV was lower than in the ARC region as a whole. SJV households also had higher rates of public assistance income than did Central Appalachian households. Madera County ranked among the 10 lowest per capita income Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) in the United States in 2003, and the other 5 MSAs in the San Joaquin were all in the bottom 20% of all U.S. MSAs. Other indicators of social well-being discussed in the report showed that the SJV is a region of significant economic distress.

Data from the U.S. Bureau of the Census's Consolidated Federal Funds Reports for 2002 and 2003 showed that every SJV county received fewer federal funds than the national per capita average or for California. Most SJV counties received approximately $1,240- $2,800 per capita less than the national per capita rate in 2002. Madera County had $3,176 per capita less than the national per capita rate in 2003. Two rural counties adjacent to the SJV, Mariposa and Tuolomne, received significantly higher per capita rates of federal funding in 2003 than the SJV. In 2002, the SJV received $1,559 less per capita in federal funds than the ARC region as a whole. The SJV also received $2,860 per capita less than the Tennessee Valley Authority region in 2003. Other federal funds data for 2000 also show that the per capita rate of federal spending was lower in the SJV than in the generally depressed Central Appalachian subregion.

In addition to examining socioeconomic conditions in the SJV, the report provides analysis of water supply and quality issues especially those concerning agriculture, air quality concerns, and rail and shipping issues. This report will not be updated.