County Ranks Second in State

Compared to those in other California counties, consumers in Orange County do more than their share of spending. Orange County ranked second among the state’s counties in total taxable sales in the 1988 third quarter at $6.4 billion, according to the State Board ofEqualization. The county had $1.5 billion more sales than third-place San Diego County, although the latter now has a larger population, according to state estimates.

In per-person sales, Orange County’s figure of $2,859 was easily best among the more populous Southern California counties. Among counties in the top 10 in total sales, only San Mateo had a higher per-person figure, $2,872.

Orange County’s sales total was 8.8% higher than in the 1987 third quarter, while statewide spending increased 7.9%.

RETAIL SALES BY COMMUNITY

City Sales (in thousands) Anaheim $752,174 Santa Ana 642,710 Costa Mesa 536,698 Irvine 484,106 Orange 420,457 Huntington Beach 376,670 Fullerton 306,612 Garden Grove 293,225 Newport Beach 253,509 Buena Park 219,317 Westminster 184,116 Tustin 125,140 Brea 130,230 Mission Viejo 124,436 Fountain Valley 94,590 La Habra 90,793 Placentia 66,431 Cypress 62,040 San Juan Capistrano 59,440 Stanton 59,402 San Clemente 56,567 Laguna Beach 51,838 Los Alamitos 43,718 Yorba Linda 30,583 Seal Beach 25,448 La Palma 13,696

Source: State Board of Equalization

TAXABLE SALES BY COUNTY

Third Quarter, 1988

Total % Change Per Capita County (in thousands) Year to Year Expenditure Los Angeles $18,011,594 +5.0 $2,105 Orange $6,399,424 +8.8 $2,859 San Diego $4,923,889 +8.8 $2,115 Santa Clara $4,001,657 +7.2 $2,795 Alameda $2,977,641 +10.6 $2,398 Sacramento $2,245,260 +8.6 $2,334 San Bernardino $2,395,298 +11.7 $1,932 San Francisco $1,964,129 +10.8 $2,650 Riverside $1,807,563 +13.4 $1,911 San Mateo $1,802,173 +8.1 $2,872

Source: State Board of Equalization

ORANGE COUNTY THIRD-QUARTER SALES (in millions) 1983: $4,058 1984: $4,666 1985: $5,112 1986: $5,490 1987: $5,879 1988: $6,399 Source: State Board of Equalization