2020 Census: Poway is Growing and Becoming More Diverse

By The Powegian

The first batch of data from the 2020 Census is in, and like many parts of the country, Poway is becoming more diverse. While our small city grew by a net 1,000 or so since 2010, it would have actually declined if not because of a growing number of Powegians from Asian and Latino descent who have moved to Poway.

According to the U.S. Census, the White population declined from 33,041 to 28,896. Meanwhile, Asians and Latinos grew by 3,422 . Our population growth, while modest, means our economy was spared the negative economic impacts of a declining population, which includes less local tax revenue, less demand for businesses such as restaurants, hotels and shops, and a shrinking labor market. 

The chart below by the San Diego Union-Tribune breaks it down pretty good:

In the last decade, Poway has changed in important ways. Traffic and long delays along Poway Road are now a staple of life. Three-story buildings are popping up all over the place, along with mega warehouses like Amazon, which oversees several neighborhoods in the the Southeast part of the city.

We still have much to learn from the Census data. Number crunchers are analyzing more and more data. We should expect more updates in the next few months, including breakdowns by district, which can help inform future district lines. This can heavily influence who gets elected to office.

Beyond the local impact, there are a lot of government functions and numbers tied to the Census. In the bigger picture it decides the number of seats of the House of Representative, defines districts at many levels, but more importantly, it provides the data to know where funding should be allocated for critical public health, education, transportation, and many other state and local needs.