LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Despite the disasters it faced in 2015, Lake County's overall economic picture is bright and has shown marked improvements over the last several years, according to a recently completed report.
The “2016 Lake County: Economic Profile” was presented to the city councils this month.
The report was produced by the Sonoma County Economic Development Board in association with the Lake County Regional Economic Development Committee.
The report looks at factors including population and demographics, income and employment, real estate, consumer spending and taxable sales, and education through 2020, using the most recent data that is available.
Sources for the data used as the report's foundation came from the Lake County Association of Realtors, California Board of Equalization, California Department of Education, California Employment Development Department, Environmental Systems Research Institute and the US Census Bureau.
According to the report, Lake County's population in 2015 was 66,338, and is expected to rise by about 2.2 percent to 67,797 by 2020, based on projections from the Environmental Systems Research Institute.
The report said that Lake County is following a statewide trend with its increasing number of Hispanic residents. The growth trend in the county for the Hispanic population – the second largest ethnic group behind those classified as white – from 2010 to 2020 is projected at 4.8 percent.
As for age by population group, the number of individuals aged 65 and above is anticipated to grow by the greatest amount between 2015 and 2020, with individuals aged 45 to 64 decreasing.
By 2020, the 45 to 64 age group will be the largest, followed by 65-plus, 25 to 44, and 10 to 24, with ages 0 to 4 and 5 to 9 essentially even.
One of the report's most notable findings is the projected growth in household income.
In 2015, Lake County's median household income was $37,063. That's expected to jump by about 15 percent to $42,491 by 2020.
The report explained that from 2000 to 2015, the percentage of Lake County households earning less than $35,000 dropped by 4.6 percent.
During the same time frame, the fastest growing income group in the county was the range from $100,000 and $149,999, which went from about 5 percent to roughly 10 percent, and is expected to inch up a few more percentage points by 2020.
The largest household income group in 2000 was under $15,000 annually. The $50,000 to $74,999 range was the largest group at just under 18 percent as of 2015, and it's expected to rise above 20 percent by 2020.
Another key area noted in the report was employment, which has shown improvements as the county has emerged from the recession.
The report noted that Lake County's unemployment topped out at 17.8 percent in December 2009. In December 2015, the local unemployment rate was down to 7.3 percent, compared to the statewide rate of 5.8 percent.
More recent data from the California Employment Development Department puts the adjusted December 2015 unemployment rate at 7.8 percent, with January registering the same rate, and unemployment dropping to 7.4 percent in February.
The economic profile report said the industry with the highest projected growth in employment in Lake County is professional and business services, followed by construction; transportation, warehousing and utilities; leisure and hospitality; educational services, health care and social assistance; financial activities; retail trade; mining and logging; wholesale trade; and other.
As for real estate, median home prices in Lake County increased by 22 percent from 2014 to 2015, with the 2015 median price at $205,900.
Real estate sales have recovered but are not at the highest levels seen over the past decade and a half, with the highest selling year in that period being 2005, when 1,460 homes sold. Sales dipped to 169 homes in 2009 but were up to 871 homes sold in 2015.
Lake County's average sales price was $229,477 in 2014, compared to the $571,928 reported in neighboring Sonoma County.
Also improving is Lake County's taxable sales, which decreased from 2008 to 2011 but then rebounded in 2013.
Lake County's high school graduation rates have traditionally been higher than the state average, but in recent years have fluctuated. The rate dropped to 78 percent in the 2009-10 school year, rose to about 87 percent in 2011-12 and dropped to 80.3 percent in the 2013-14 school year, just below the state rate of 80.8 percent.
In the 2013-14 school year, white students had a graduation rate of 84.1 percent; Hispanic students, 79.2 percent; black students and students of two or more races, 68.2 percent; and American Indian students, 53.6 percent, based on the report.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.