Economic Indicators
|
Ridgecrest Building Permits |
|
|
|
The Economic slump of the 1990s and the recovery of recent years are vividly illustrated by the changes in the value of Ridgecrest's building permits, with the most dramatic upswing in 2005. The total for 2006 is $33,343,023, and the total for the first 10 months of 2007 is $16,354,246. |
| Ridgecrest Sales Tax Net Cash Receipts ($M by Fiscal Year (per MuniServices, LLC) |
|
 |
The most recent figures are for FY 06-07 and FY 07-08 and 08-09 are projected. |
| According to the U.S. Census, 8 percent of Ridgecrest homes were vacant in 1990, with 13.1 percent vacant in 2000. Since that time, homes have rented and sold so well that the vacancy rate has declined to a very small percentage. The average home sold in Ridgecrest in 2006 had 3.2 bedrooms and 1.82 bathrooms, occupied 1,587 square feet, and stood on a third of an acre. |  |
Valley Population
|
2000 Census: 27,772 1990 Census: 36,879 |
Ridgecrest Population (per U.S. Census) |
|||||||||
| China Lake Acres and Inyokern were not counted as separate census areas. The total for the 93555, 93556, and 93527 zip codes was given as 36,879. |
|
|||||||||
Climate
| Our climate is dry, with mild temperatures most of the year. In the summer it does get hot. Over the past 10 years, an average of 4 inches of rain has fallen each year. The chart at right shows the high and low temperature for each month, as well as the average high and the average low per month. | Temperature Highs and Lows, deg F |
|
|
|
Crime Rate
|
Crimes Per 10,000 Residents |
|
 |
Crimes included in the statistics charted at left are willful homicide, forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, and motor-vehicle theft. Not included in these statistics are simple assault, arson, and larceny. These statistics match those kept nationwide by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Statistics for the 20th century are available at the California Criminal Justice Statistics Center (http://caag.state.ca.us/cjsc/ ), but the center is now revising the way it keeps crime statistics in an effort to make them more consistent. |
Age Groups and Ethnicity
|
Ridgecrest Population by Age Group |
  |
| Ethnic Group |
1990 |
2000 |
| White |
84.2 |
76.5 |
| Hispanic/Latino |
7.9 |
12.0 |
| Asian/Pacific Islander |
3.9 |
4.0 |
| Black |
3.1 |
3.5 |
| Other* |
0.2 |
2.9 |
|
*The 2000 census allowed the choice of more than one ethnic group, a choice not avaliable in 1990 |
||
|
California Dept. of Education ethnic data for Sierra Sands Unified School district also shows the percentage of nonwhite ethnic groups as growing within the district. The white popula-tion in the school district has declined from 76.3 percent in 1999 to 63.4 percent today, with the Hispanic population increasing to 18.8 percent and the black population increasing to 6.4 percent. |
Education
|
Academic Performance Index, 2003-06 Comparasion of Scores for Sierra Sands Unified School Dist. and California Schools |
Education Levels, 25 & Older Percent per category (per 2000 U.S. Census) .gif "demographicseducation") |
|||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||
Major Employers
Employer |
Type of Business |
No. of Employees |
|
Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division, Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake |
Defense RDT&E |
3,482 (full-time civ.) 670 (military)* |
|
Searles Valley Minerals |
Mining of Soda Ash Products |
625 |
|
Sierra Sands Unified School District |
Education |
620 |
|
Ridgecrest Regional Hospital |
Acute-Care Hospital |
340 |
|
Wyle Laboratories |
Defense Contractor |
280 |
|
AltaOne Federal Credit Union |
Credit Union |
215 |
|
SA-Tech (Systems Applications & Technologies) |
Defense Contractor |
187 |
|
Wal-Mart |
Discount Department Store |
185 |
|
Cerro Coso Community College |
Education |
175 |
|
Desert Area Resources and Training |
Training and Social Services |
142 |
|
New Directions Technologies Inc. |
Network Systems Administration |
135 |
|
City of Ridgecrest |
Municipality |
134 |
|
Drummond Medical Group |
Medical Clinic |
125 |
|
Jacobs Naval Systems Group |
Defense Contractor |
120 |
|
Ridgecrest HealthCare Center |
Convalescent Hosp., Rehab. |
118 |
|
Titan National Security Solutions/EC3 |
Range Technical Support |
111 |
|
Lockheed Martin |
Defense Contractor |
110 |
|
Albertson's (two stores) |
Grocery Store |
100 |
|
L-3 Communications, Govt. Services, Inc. |
Defense Contractor |
95 |
|
DCS Corporation (2 offices) |
Defense Contractor |
90 |
|
Carriage Inn |
Hotel |
80 |
|
Coso Operating Co. |
Geothermal Power Production |
80 |
|
Kmart |
Discount Department Store |
80 |
|
Immanuel Baptist Church, Ministry Cntr, School |
Church and School |
80 |
|
The Home Depot |
Retail Home Improvement |
75 |
|
Mervyn's |
Department Store |
74 |
|
Stater Bros. |
Grocery Store |
60 |
|
CR Briggs, Inc. |
Mining |
60 |
|
Heritage Inn and Suites |
Hotel and Restaurant |
54 |
|
Computer Technology Associates, Inc. |
Engineering/Computing Services |
30 |
*Plus 1,698 on-base contractors (some of whom are listed above in defense contractor counts), for a total of 5,850.
|
Information compiled by Ridgecrest Chamber of Commerce |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
05/28/2013 6:00 pm -
Planning Commission - Agendas
Council Chambers
06/05/2013 6:00 pm -
City Council - Agendas
Council Chambers
06/19/2013 6:00 pm -
City Council - Agendas
Council Chambers
06/25/2013 6:00 pm -
Planning Commission - Agendas
Council Chambers
07/03/2013 6:00 pm -
City Council - Agendas
Council Chambers
Our valley has an average of 260 cloud-free days a year - better than the rest of the county, even sites in Texas, which only average out to 180-200 cloud-free days a year.gif "demographic education")