Introduction
The exploration of descriptive data can provide a lot of insight into the specifics of the community in question. According to Guthrie (2010), even basic data can be numerically expressed and statistically tested, which helps social scientists back up their findings and offer interventions that are based on quantifiable information. For this assignment, the demographic data from the San Diego community in comparison to that of the United States. The five factors that will be compared in this paper are the population, age, foreign-born persons, veterans, and economy. This paper will analyze the data for the chosen county, compare it to that of the state and country, and answer some questions about the community in question.
Data Comparison
This section will compare the census data describing the population of San Diego to that of California and the United States in general. The total population of this county is 3,338,330 (“Census, table results,” n.d.). The age of the population is displayed in Figure 1, where 78% of the inhabitants are over the age of 18 but below the age of 65. The median age of a person living in San Diego is 36,4 years. 54,6% of the individuals in the county are naturalized U.S. citizens, while the rest are foreign-born persons, which accounts for 45.6%.
The next characteristic that will be examined for this population is the number of veterans since this metric should influence the public administration’s decision-making. Interestingly, there are 7.9% of veterans in San Diego, which provides some insight into the type of care and community needs required by this population (United States Census Bureau, n.d.). Moreover, the gender distribution of the veteran population is the following: 88% are male, and 11.6% are females (United States Census Bureau, n.d.). Hence, this community should have the resources and facilities to accommodate the needs of veterans as their population is substantial.
As for the economy, the income and poverty rates assessed by the U.S.U.S. Census Bureau can provide some insight into this metric. In San Diego, the median income of families is $91,034 a year, while couple families earn $107,342 per year (United States Census Bureau, n.d.). Moreover, non-family households earn $53,589 per year (United States Census Bureau, n.d.). In general, the median income for all types of families in San Diego is $83,985. This data is the basic assessment of some common characteristics of the community members who reside in San Diego.
City and State
In this section, the descriptive statistics for San Diego will be compared to that of the population in California. Evidently, the population of the state is larger than that of a county. The population of California, in general, is 39,5 million (United States Census Bureau, n.d.). However, these statistics suggest that the population of San Diego is approximately 10% of the entire population of this state, which requires the public administration specialists to pay particular attention to the community needs of these individuals.
Interestingly, the mean age of an inhabitant in San Diego and of that in California is very similar; in San Diego, it is 34,4, while in California, it is 37. As for the veteran population, it is significantly higher in San Diego when compared to California in general. For California, the percentage of veterans in comparison to the general population is 4.8% in comparison to 7.9% in San Diego (“Quick facts, California, n.d.). The next characteristic in this analysis is the number of foreign-born persons and U.S.U.S. citizens residing in this state. For California, 26.6% of the individuals are foreign-born people, which is significantly lower than the foreign-born population of San Diego (“Quick facts, California, n.d.). This statistic shows a significant population-level difference between the community of California and that of San Diego and points to the need of having public resources that support immigrants in San Diego.
In terms of household economy, there are slight differences between the earnings of households in California and those in San Diego. In California, the median household income is $80,840, which is by $3,145 per year less. The poverty rates in California are also 1.5% higher when compared to San Diego. Based on this, one can assume that the citizens of San Diego are more well-off economically when compared to people living in California in general.
City and Country
For this section, the descriptive statistics of San Diego’s population will be compared to those of the citizens in the United States. Firstly, the population of the United States is approximately 329,5 million (“U.S.U.S. and world population clock,” 2022). The mean age of the population in the country is 38.2, which means that the population of the people who live in San Diego is much younger when compared to that of the state in general. Next, the percentage of veterans is 7% of the adult population, which is consistent with the statistics from San Diego (United States Census Bureau, n.d.). Finally, as for the household economy, the median income of the U.S.U.S. population is $67,521, while the population poverty rate is 11.4% (Shrider et al., 2021). This means that in terms of earnings, the population of San Diego is wealthier when compared to the general population in the country. This can mean that the economic development in this region is better when compared to other countries, and therefore, there are more community development opportunities.
Data Analysis
The facts about the population of San Diego allow one to create a basic profile of this community. Moreover, comparing the data to that of the state and country allows one to see the key differences and whether there are some population needs that are not addressed because the community of San Diego differs greatly from that of the U.S.U.S. in general. For example, the population in San Diego is younger than that of the country. A large number of individuals residing there are foreign-born individuals, and almost ten percent of the population is veterans. Hence, the community has clear special needs, such as resources and support centers for foreign nationals, for example, for those who need to learn English or require community support. The veteran population also may have special needs, such as mental health support centers.
Additionally, the examined data allows one to find the potential issues that the community might be facing. For instance, with San Diego, there is an evident issue of veteran care since 7.9% of the population are veterans (United States Census Bureau, n.d.). Veterans typically face a number of healthcare issues, including mental health struggles due to their work that require additional attention. The second issue worth paying attention to is income inequality, as there is a substantial difference in earnings when comparing households and non-family households, where the earnings difference is approximately $10,000 (United States Census Bureau, n.d.). Although, in general, the population of San Diego earns more when compared to the state and country citizens, these are the median statistics, and the higher household income can result in high homeownership prices and cost of living. This may be an issue for the individuals earning below the median. The community might be facing these issues due to the high level of economic development in San Diego. This county has a number of I.T.I.T. companies who are the major employers providing high salaries for their employees. The census data explored in this paper supports the program development because it helps identify the populations that require additional attention and the types of issues they might be facing.
Conclusion
The selected facts emphasize some key differences between the selected community and the state in general. The data comparison between the county and the state shows that there are many demographic similarities, for example, in terms of age and percentage of veterans. However, when comparing information about San Diego County to that of the U.S.U.S., many differences arise. The primary distinction is the household income and the economic development levels, which are much higher in San Diego when compared to the rest of the country.
References
Guthrie, G. (2010). Basic research methods. SAGE.
Quick facts, California. (n.d.). Web.
Shrider, E. A., Kollar, M., Chen, F., & Semega, J. (2021). Income and poverty in the United States: 2020. Web.
United States Census Bureau. (n.d.). Census. Web.
United States Census Bureau. (n.d.). San Diego County, California. Web.
U.S.U.S. and world population clock. (2022). Web.