SNAPSHOT OF THE VALLEY CENSUS BUREAU HELPING DISPEL OUR IDENTITY CRISIS.

Byline: LISA FRIEDMAN Washington Bureau

In overwhelming numbers, San Fernando Valley dwellers are educated and employed. Most of us moved to the area within the past six years. By and large, we live in tract homes built in the 1950s. And it takes us an average 29.5 minutes to get to work.

So emerges the first federal demographic snapshot of the region after a hard-fought battle by Valley leaders for the U.S. Census Bureau to recognize the area as geographically distinct.

While the newly released statistics detail the 27th and 28th congressional districts -- technically not the entire San Fernando Valley -- they cover a significant swath as the Census Bureau works to complete its first-ever Valley report.

``The Valley is an area seeking identity and information and also trying to attract business,'' said Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Sherman Oaks, the 27th District congressman who released the early data. ``(This) can spotlight things for us from a public-policy standpoint and from a business standpoint.''

The Valley gained its status as a separate region late last year -- a distinction that could give it the detailed information needed to achieve the economic and political clout it has sought for decades.

The designation capped a five-year effort that began after the Valley secession campaign failed in 2002 amid bitter challenges to the accuracy of information about what would have been the nation's sixth-largest city.

In the early data, the Census Bureau found:

The median annual household income is $49,612, slightly higher than the national median.

The median home price in the Valley is $492,500, slightly less than the statewide median of $533,050. For both owners and renters, housing costs eat up about 35 percent of Valley residents' incomes.

Just 0.052 percent of Valley residents are unemployed. Of those over age 16 with jobs -- about 623,000 people -- one-third are considered professionals, working largely in education and health care. That number is followed closely by those in scientific and administrative fields.

Nearly 15 percent of Valley residents live below the poverty level. Of those, 18.9 percent are children under younger than 5.

Nationally, an estimated 12.6 percent of Americans live in poverty.

Sherman said the housing-cost figures underscore a need to push for a federal home mortgage deduction.

``The Valley has an image of being a wealthier area than it is,'' he said. ``We are making a little bit more than the average American family, and we spend the entire excess on housing.''

Sherman was elected in 1997 to the horseshoe-shaped 27th District, which includes Tarzana, Canoga Park, Northridge, Granada Hills and Sylmar.

The 28th District, represented since 1983 by Democrat Howard Berman, encompasses much of the north and east San Fernando Valley including Pacoima, Arleta, Panorama City, Van Nuys, North Hollywood, Encino, Sherman Oaks and Studio City.

The new information omits sections of the Valley -- including parts of Woodland Hills, Glendale and Burbank -- and some analysts say the results could be significantly different when all regions are covered.

``The whole purpose of us having a statistical district is so we can get the same kind of data a city would get,'' said Valley Industry and Commerce Association Chairman Bob Scott. ``Anything other than that just doesn't do it for us.''

A complete Census Bureau demographic report is expected to be released by the end of the year and will examine San Fernando, Burbank, Glendale, Calabasas and part of the city of Los Angeles, as well as unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County.

Scott said he expects that report to be a significant management tool for San Fernando Valley officials who can use the data for everything from making grant applications to luring business to the region.

Scott, past president of the Los Angeles Planning Commission and a public-policy analyst who was instrumental in the quest for the Census Bureau designation, also has said the data will help future elected, appointed, civic and nonprofit leaders make informed decisions about the Valley.

Still, Daniel Blake, director of the San Fernando Valley Economic Research Center at California State University, Northridge, said the early information is a good indication of what's to come.

The greatest information boom will come after the 2010 Census, added Blake, who has been crunching census data for the Valley since 2001.

``It's a huge area, and it's an important area,'' Blake said. With a full statistical picture, ``people coming into the area will understand what the market is,'' he said.

``This area is bigger than many states, and it's not even a whole county,'' Blake noted. ``It's quite a bit different in the Valley than it is over the hill.''

lisa.friedman(at)langnews.com

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San Fernando Valley at a glance

SOURCE: U.S. Census Bureau, Office of Rep. Brad Sherman

Gregg Miller/Staff Artist