Five Digits of History and Diversity.

My neighborhood of Reseda lands in the 91335 zip code area. A place that’s been my home for the past 17 years.

According to the Census Reporter, 91335 is a zip code where its people have a median household income of $60,413. While the per capita income consists of $25,396. About a $35,000 difference between the two.

The racial breakdown doesn’t surprise me as I’m used to seeing more Hispanic people in the area than any other race. Hispanics make up 51% of the population within the 91335 zip code. Then it’s white people with 29% followed by Asians, then the Black community at last. With an ethnic breakdown of 13% and 4% respectively.

I think there’s a high percentage of white population because according to the article Are Arabs and Iranians white? Census says yes, but many disagree, a huge number of people who are either from the Middle East, Southwest Asia, or North African descent, have to count themselves as white when filling out the census. Their race is not specified, therefore they’re considered white. That’s what’s been boosting up the numbers throughout the years, many people are marking another race instead of their own. According to The L.A. Times, 80% of these groups have called themselves white in past census surveys.

For my 91335 community, the highest foreign-born population with a 54% comes from Latin America. The second largest is from Asia with a 38%. Followed by a 6% from Europe. And lastly with only 1% from Africa.

Considering most foreign born people are from Latin America, the second most spoken language other than English had to be Spanish. 49% of people who speak Spanish are children ages 5–17 years old. A slightly lower 43% of people are adults 18 and over who speak Spanish at home. The other languages are Indo-European and Asian/Islander but their percentages are not specified.

Another statistic that interests me a lot is the percentage of people living below the poverty line. Within the 91335 zip code, 24% of children under 18 are at that level. While 15% are seniors aged 65 and over.

I’m glad these numbers are not as high as the amount of poverty and homelessness seen in downtown L.A. for example. It would break my heart having to see those circumstances everyday as I commute around my neighborhood.