Quick Take:
The entire Monterey Bay region, including Santa Cruz County, is grappling with significant disparities in homeownership rates among racial groups, but is making strides in other areas when it comes to reducing inequality, such as combating food insecurity and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, according to a recent study.
Homeownership rates remain sharply divided among racial groups across the Monterey Bay, but the region is making progress in the fight against food insecurity and greenhouse gas emissions. That’s according to a new study that takes a deeper dive into the region’s efforts to close racial inequities and build a more inclusive economy, with more equality across racial groups, generations, generations and across demographics.
UC Santa Cruz’s Institute of Social Transformation developed the report, “Building an Inclusive Economy in the Monterey Bay Region: A Progress Report,” for Monterey Bay Economic Partnership (MBEP), a member-supported nonprofit representing Santa Cruz, Monterey and San Benito counties.
Based on data over a ten-year period, the goal is to provide a better understanding of how the region stacks up in terms of equity, sustainability, growth and stability, according to MBEP’s CEO and president, Tahra Goraya. It provides insight into areas ranging from home ownership, to labor force participation, education and even voter turnout to help inform decision-making, investment and policy initiatives.
“We want this document to be used by everyone — it has implications for everything from private investment to philanthropic efforts and more,” she said, adding that the organization plans to hold a series of events this year that will drill down into the findings and foster further discussion.
Unsurprisingly, housing remains one of the biggest issues for the region and that’s something Goraya really hopes to focus more on in the coming year, particularly when it comes to bringing the private sector into more conversations around potential solutions.
“Our north star is to increase the housing supply,” she said.
Compared to the neighboring counties, Santa Cruz County’s economy is less volatile, the report finds, which the analysts write, “maybe due to a higher proportion of public sector employment as well as a lower dependence on exports from the agricultural industry.
Another element contributing to the steady economy? A larger proportion of county residents are retirees with fixed income compared to San Benito and Monterey counties. While all three areas saw gross domestic product (GDP), which measures the value of economic activity, plummet in 2020, Santa Cruz (10% increase from 2020 to 2021) and San Benito counties have made bigger improvements than Monterey and the statewide average.
Breaking it down into sectors, healthcare remains the largest private sector employer in Santa Cruz County, though there’s been little growth in the number of jobs available. The biggest growth sector in the past five years has been transportation and warehousing (up 9.2%). The biggest decrease, a decline of -5.2% from 2017-2022, was the information sector, including telecommunications, publishing and broadcasting.
Among other findings of the 53-page report:
- Food insecurity is declining in Santa Cruz County: Food insecurity, defined as having limited or uncertain access to adequate food, is a mixed bag within the region. Santa Cruz County’s food insecurity rate fell to 9% in 2021, down from a peak of 13.9% in 2017. By contrast, Monterey County’s rate sat just below 10% with little change over the past five years. All three counties’ food insecurity rates remained below the statewide rate of 10.5%.
- There are stark racial disparities when it comes to home ownership: For those who identify as non-Hispanic white or Asian, the percentage of residents who own homes rose from 61-63% to just over 64% in the past decade. The rate of homeownership among Hispanic and Black residents hovers around 40-45%. That’s relatively unchanged from the previous decade.
- Access to higher education is increasing, but racial inequities persist: Across all racial groups, the percentage of people 25 years and older who’ve received a four-year college degree or higher has increased since 2010. Women are more likely to have bachelor’s degrees or higher than men, but the numbers vary greatly by race. For instance, while 50.5% of non-hispanic white women reported having at least a bachelor’s degree in 2021, just 12.7% of women who identify as Latina/Hispanic did the same.
- Chronic absenteeism for K-12 students has dramatically increased: Chronic absenteeism – defined as the percentage of students who were absent from class 10% or more of the time – increased significantly between 2020 and 2022. For Latino/Hispanic students, that rate went from 14% pre-pandemic to more than 30% in 2022. Statewide, chronic absenteeism is on the rise, in part due to what local educators say is guardians’ increased willingness to keep kids at home for any sign of illness.
As of 2022, there were approximately 764,800 people living in the three county region, with more than half (56.5%) in Monterey County. MBEP was founded in 2015 with a goal to improve economic health and quality of life in the region. Its members include representatives from the private, public and non-profit sectors, including municipal governments, colleges and universities, hospitals and corporations ranging from Joby Aviation to PG&E, Wells Fargo and Driscoll’s.
It’s really about “making sure everyone has a seat at the table and that the table is large and expansive,” Goraya said of the organization’s mission.
Among MBEP’s biggest successes in the past year has been Joby Aviation’s commitment to expanding locally, said Goraya. While the company ultimately chose to build its newest manufacturing facility in Dayton, Ohio, it will expand its operations in Marina and Santa Cruz, aided by a new CalCompetes grant.
This demonstrated the power of cooperation that MBEP works to foster, she said. “The retention of Joby Aviation didn’t happen because of one person or one group; it was truly a coalition and bringing together partners. That was really beautiful to see.”
Continued expansion of broadband access and digital equity is another area where Goraya sees great strides being made across the region. The organization, along with partners, helped secure a new $139,999 state grant to enable MBEP member Loaves, Fishes & Computers, a Salinas-based nonprofit that refurbishes and distributes computers to those in need, to improve access to the internet and expand digital skills training.
Like housing, broadband access will remain a top priority for MBEP in the new year, said Goraya.
“Broadband is a basic utility today,” she said, and improving digital access is key to so many other initiatives, including educational equity, civic participation, job expansion and more.”