L.A. A MAGNET FOR MULTILINGUAL CENSUS FIGURES SHOW CITY OF MANY VOICES.

Byline: Bill Hillburg Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON - Nearly 60 percent of Los Angeles residents speak a language other than English in their homes - the third-highest rate among U.S. cities, according to Census Bureau figures being issued today.

The new report, based on the 2000 Census, offers detailed insights into Southern California's diversity, with 59 percent of Los Angeles residents speaking another language at home - 72 percent of them using Spanish instead of English or in addition to English.

Santa Ana led U.S. cities with 83.6 percent, followed by Miami, with 75.9 percent. Cincinnati ranked last at 3.1 percent.

The 2000 Census Supplemental Survey, conducted separately last year from the 2000 U.S. Census, also includes data on ethnicity, housing, education and income for all 50 states and the District of Columbia, 265 large counties and the nation's 64 biggest cities, including Los Angeles.

``We're trying to create an annual snapshot of the nation and give schools, businesses and governments the up-to-date information they need for planning purposes,'' said Scott Boggess, a Census Bureau demographer.

He said the bureau hopes to conduct the new survey annually beginning in 2003. It would replace the census long form now used to collect the same types of detailed information every 10 years.

``The language spoken in the home by students and parents is an important factor for us,'' said Gordon Wohlers, chief of staff for the Los Angeles Unified School District. ``We individually evaluate new students to determine their level of English skill and then enroll them in a program. Our student population currently includes speakers of more than 80 languages.''

California had the nation's highest percentage, 27.5 percent, of people reporting that they spoke a language other than English at home. The low was 2.2 percent in West Virginia and the national average was 17.6 percent.

The California level is lower than the 32 percent reported a decade earlier in the 1990 U.S. Census. However, the new report's national average is higher than the 1990 Census finding of about 14 percent.

But Boggess and other census officials cautioned against comparing Supplemental Survey results with other census data. Its findings are based on mail-in and live interviews collected from only 700,000 households nationwide, including just 18,421 in Los Angeles County. Census long forms were sent to 19 million U.S. homes last year. Data from the 2000 long forms will be not be released until late next year.

Boggess also said the spoken language data pointed up the region's diversity and should not be overstated as an indicator of skills.

``A lot of these respondents are bilingual, he said. ``They may choose to speak another language at home or to communicate with a relative. When we asked those same respondents about their English skills, many said they were proficient.''

Of Los Angeles residents who reported speaking a language other than English at home, nearly half - 46 percent - said they also spoke English ``very well.''

``Bilingual is the trend we're seeing among our clients,'' said Amelia Nieto, director of Centro Shalom, a Long Beach-based Latino social service agency. ``We encourage people to learn English to get ahead and they encourage their kids. They want to learn English, but they also want to hang on to Spanish, especially in their family.''

The Census Bureau's new report also covers other aspects of life. In the report's survey of median values for single-family homes, Los Angeles ranked sixth among big cities with $232,928. San Jose topped the category at $430,612, followed by San Francisco at $427,938, Honolulu at $390,887, Seattle at $256,378 and San Diego at $236,132.

Pittsburgh had the nation's low at $55,608. The U.S. average was $120,496.

Data on the highest level of educational attainment among adults age 25 and above found 27.1 percent of Los Angeles residents had earned a college bachelor's degree or better. The California average was 27.5 percent and the U.S. norm was 25.1 percent.

The survey found that California, long the nation's leading magnet for immigrants, still has an abundance of Golden State native sons and daughters. Of the 59 percent of Los Angeles respondents who said they were U.S.-born, 69 percent were born in California. In Los Angeles County, 71 percent of U.S.-born residents were born in California.

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SOURCE: U.S. Census Bureau 2000 Supplemental Survey