The number of local workers who commute outside of San Benito
County to their a job has hit a 30-year high.
The number of local workers who commute outside of San Benito County to their a job has hit a 30-year high.
The report from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis showed that the county is gradually becoming the bedroom community for the Silicon Valley.
The report, which used statistics from the 2000, 1990, 1980 and 1970 censuses shows that 48.5 percent of the county’s workforce of more than 23,000 people travel to as many as 10 other counties throughout the region.
“That means 48.5 percent of our working population gets up and leaves the county every morning,” County Planning Director Rob Mendiola said.
Mendiola said having such a large percentage of the workforce working outside the county on a daily basis creates a series of problems.
“You can start with traffic congestion and go on to the reduction in air quality,” Mendiola said. “Many of those people are probably shopping near where they work, which means less sales tax coming in locally and fewer people doing business with local merchants.”
According to the report, San Benito County has gradually evolved from an area in 1970 that produced enough jobs for 80 percent of the local workforce, which totaled 6,454 people out of a county population of 18,226 to one that has only 51.5 percent of the workforce staying within the county.
The local work pattern made a big change during the 1990s when the population increased by about 47 percent from the previous decade and nearly doubled the available workforce to 16,550 people.
However, nearly 35 percent of the workforce was commuting to work.
Currently, 34.9 percent of the county’s workforce is commuting to Santa Clara County for jobs. Another 7 percent, 1,606 commute to Monterey County.
“It shows you that we have become much more of a bedroom community,” Mendiola said.
Assistant County Administrative Officer Terrence May, who is analyzing portions of the report, agreed with Mendiola’s assessment of what the report indicated about the direction the county is headed.
“Over time, we’re increasingly turning into a bedroom community,” May said. “As the population grows, we are not producing enough jobs to accommodate the number workers.”
With so many people working outside the county, officials have limited ability to affect economic changes that might benefit the community.
“To a large degree, we have less control over our economic future,” May said.
He said one recent example was the economic downturn in Silicon Valley, which left a number of residents without jobs or earning less money. That in turn, meant many of them could not afford to buy as much locally, and some were forced to either sell their home or go into bankruptcy.
During the past 30 years, the number of local jobs doubled from 5,131 in 1970 to 11,909 in 2000, according to the census report.
During the same time frame, the county’s population grew from 16,226 in 1970 to 53,234 in 2000.
