East LA

East Los Angeles study area and Mexican-origin sample

Boyle Heights, located 2.3 miles from the Los Angeles Civic Center, is both a transitional zone for new immigrants and home to a relatively stable residential population with a considerable percentage of homeowners.  In the 1920s and 1930s, residents were predominantly Eastern European Jewish and Japanese immigrants.  By the 1990 Census, Mexican-origin residents constituted 86 percent of the area population. These recently arrived immigrants are young (68 percent of our sample was under 40 years of age), and more than half (54 percent) were married at the time of the survey.  Forty eight percent of our sample had less than a high school diploma, and the majority reported low income levels.