{"id":24307,"date":"2026-06-08T11:03:19","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T18:03:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vccf.org\/?p=24307"},"modified":"2026-06-08T11:03:27","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T18:03:27","slug":"ventura-county-ages-as-housing-costs-push-younger-residents-out-report-finds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vccf.org\/pt\/ventura-county-ages-as-housing-costs-push-younger-residents-out-report-finds\/","title":{"rendered":"Ventura County ages as housing costs push younger residents out, report finds"},"content":{"rendered":"

This article was originally published by the Simi Valley Acorn. Read the full article on their website.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

by Michele Willer-Allred<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ventura County is getting older, becoming increasingly expensive, especially for younger residents, and seeing shifts in education and employment that are reshaping its long-term future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The findings come from the 2025 \u201cState of the Region\u201d report compiled by the Ventura County Civic Alliance. The report is a biannual analysis that uses federal, state and Census data to track trends in housing, the economy, education and other key areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

David Maron, vice chair of the Civic Alliance, presented the findings during a May 28 briefing hosted by the Moorpark Chamber of Commerce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maron said the report reflects a county in transition, where demographic and economic pressures are beginning to intersect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The average age in Ventura County has risen from around 34 years old in 2000 to nearly 40 today, according to U.S. Census data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, the population has declined from about 847,000 in 2017 to about 830,000 in 2026, and the number of children has dropped sharply from about 202,000 to about 182,000. That\u2019s a decline of roughly 20,000 residents under age 18 in just a few years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Birth rates have also fallen over time, dropping from about 19 births per 1,000 residents in 1990 to approximately 10 per thousand today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maron said the trend could be driven by younger residents leaving the county or delaying or forgoing having children, largely because of cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Housing may be a major factor behind those shifts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The median price of a home in Ventura County reached about $975,000 in 2025, the highest on record. At the same time, only about 14% of households can afford a median-priced home today, compared with about 50% in 2012.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rent now averages about $2,850 a month, and child care can run as high as $18,000 per year for a single toddler.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very difficult to be young and try to live here and make it here with your first job,\u201d Maron said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added that a couple with one child needs to earn a minimum $52 an hour combined to afford Ventura County living. Those pressures are showing up in education data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Public school enrollment has been declining for years, with Ventura County now at about 123,000 TK-12 students\u2014up only slightly from about 107,000 in 1973, even though the county population has doubled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Higher education trends, though, are more mixed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moorpark College has seen steady growth since the pandemic, rising to nearly 15,000 students in 2024-25 from about 13,000 a few years earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But four-year universities have been losing students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CSU Channel Islands has dropped from nearly 7,000 undergraduates in 2018-19 to about 5,000 today. California Lutheran University has also declined from about 3,000 students to about 2,300 today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maron said community colleges are benefiting from adult learners, job training and dual enrollment programs that allow high school students to take college classes. At the same time, rising university costs are pushing more students toward community colleges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The labor market shows a similar split. Ventura County reached a record 316,000 non-farm jobs in 2024, continuing a long recovery since 2011.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But wages vary widely depending on industry. About 55,000 people work in education, earning an average of about $56,000 a year, while roughly 15,000 workers in financial fields earn about $112,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maron said the county has struggled to retain or attract higher-paying industries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe need more of those financial companies,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overall economic growth has also been slow. The county\u2019s GDP has increased only slightly in recent years and remains below its pre-recession peak when adjusted for inflation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite that, Ventura County continues to benefit from strong homeownership rates\u2014about 64% compared with 56% statewide\u2014but Maron said that stability also limits available housing for younger residents and contributes to affordability pressures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maron said addressing the county\u2019s long-term challenges will require a more coordinated approach to housing, jobs and workforce development, especially if leaders want to retain younger residents who are increasingly priced out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think we do a good job cohesively in Ventura County in trying to recruit new businesses,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe do get some to move up here, but I don\u2019t think we\u2019re doing enough to get those really lucrative companies,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added that expanding housing options, improving access to child care and attracting higher-wage industries will be key to reversing current trends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Founded in 2001 as an initiative of the Ventura County Community Foundation, the Ventura County Civic Alliance describes itself as a coalition of civic leaders with a shared commitment to the economic, environmental and social equity interests of the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe believe accurate, unbiased data is essential to guide civic engagement and policy development that addresses the challenges facing our region. We also use this data to guide our work to promote a healthy and sustainable future for Ventura County,\u201d the Alliance said in its 2025 State of the Region report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The full report is available for download at civicalliance.org<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This article was originally published by the Simi Valley Acorn. Read the full article on their website. by Michele Willer-Allred Ventura County is getting older, becoming increasingly expensive, especially for…<\/p>","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"give_campaign_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-latest-coverage"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vccf.org\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24307","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vccf.org\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vccf.org\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vccf.org\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vccf.org\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24307"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vccf.org\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24307\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vccf.org\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vccf.org\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vccf.org\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}