FAU California State Assembly

California is the most populous state in the United States and the third most extensive by area. Located on the western (Pacific Ocean) coast of the U.S., California is bordered by the other U.S. states of Oregon, Nevada, and Arizona and shares an international border with the Mexican state of Baja California. The state capital is Sacramento. Los Angeles is California’s most populous city, and the country’s second largest after New York City. The state also has the nation’s most populous county, Los Angeles County, and its largest county by area, San Bernardino County.

If it were a country, California would be the 6th largest economy in the world and the 35th most populous. It is also regarded as a global trendsetter in both popular culture and politics, and is the birthplace of the film industry, the hippie counterculture, the Internet, and the personal computer, among others. Fifty-eight percent of the state’s economy is centered on finance, government, real estate services, technology, and professional, scientific and technical business services. The San Francisco Bay Area has the nation’s highest median household income by metropolitan area, and is the headquarters of three of the world’s largest 20 firms by revenue, Chevron, Apple, and McKesson. Although it accounts for only 1.5 percent of the state’s economy, California’s agriculture industry has the highest output of any U.S. state.

 

---

The economy of California is large enough to be comparable to that of the largest of countries. As of 2016, the gross state product (GSP) is about $2.514 trillion, the largest in the United States.^[149] California is responsible for 13.9 percent of the United States’ approximate $18.1 trillion gross domestic product (GDP).^[149] California’s GSP is larger than the GDP of all but 5 countries in dollar terms (the United States, China, Japan, Germany, and the United Kingdom),^[150][151] larger than Brazil, France, Russia, Italy, India, Canada, Australia, Spain and Turkey. In Purchasing Power Parity,^[152]it is larger than all but 10 countries (the United States, China, India, Japan, Germany, Russia, Brazil, France, the United Kingdom, and Indonesia), larger than Italy, Mexico, Spain, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Canada and Turkey.

 

---

When Los Angeles was first established in 1781, 26 of the 46 original settlers were black or mulatto, meaning a mixture of African and Spanish origins.

Beginning in 1793, Juan Francisco Reyes, a mulatto settler, served as elected mayor of Los Angeles. A member of the 1769 Portola expedition, Reyes would serve three terms as mayor.

Pío Pico, California’s last governor under Mexican Rule, was of mixed Spanish, African and Native American ancestry. Pico spent his last days in Los Angeles, dying in 1894 at the home of his daughter Joaquina Pico Moreno in Los Angeles. He was buried in the old Calvary Cemetery on North Broadway in Downtown Los Angeles, before his remains were relocated.

Blacks and mulattoes did not face legal discrimination until after California was handed over to the United States in 1848. Many white Southerners who came to California during the Gold Rush brought with them racist attitudes and ideals. In 1850, there were twelve black people registered as residents of Los Angeles. Because many blacks were enslaved until abolition in 1865, few blacks migrated to Los Angeles before then. Due to the construction of the Santa Fe Railroad and a settlement increase in 1880, increasing numbers of blacks came to Los Angeles. By 1900, 2,131 African-Americans, the second largest black population in California, lived in Los Angeles.^[1]

In 1872, the First African Methodist Episcopal Church of Los Angeles (First A.M.E. or FAME) was established under the sponsorship of Biddy Mason, an African American nurse and a California real estate entrepreneur and philanthropist, and her son-in-law Charles Owens. The church now has a membership of more than 19,000 individuals.

The first branch of the NAACP in California was established in Los Angeles in 1913.

From approximately 1920 to 1955, Central Avenue was the heart of the African-American community in Los Angeles, with active rhythm and blues and jazz music scenes.

Jazz legend Charles Mingus was born in Los Angeles in 1922. Raise

In 1928, World War I veteran William J. Powell founded the Bessie Coleman Aero Club. In 1931, Powell organized the first all-black air show in the United States for the Club in Los Angeles, an event that drew 15,000 visitors. Powell also established a school to train mechanics and pilots.

Singer-songwriter Ray Charles moved to Los Angeles in 1950. In 2004, his music studio on Washington Blvd. in Los Angeles was declared a historic landmark.

The Theme Building, an iconic landmark structure at the Los Angeles International Airport, opened. The structure was designed by a team of architects and engineers headed by William Pereira and Charles Luckman, that also included Paul Williams and Welton Becket. Born in Los Angeles in 1894, Williams studied at the Los Angeles School of Art and Design and at the Los Angeles branch of the New York Beaux-Arts Institute of Design Atelier, subsequently working as a landscape architect. He went on to attend the University of Southern California, School of Engineering, designing several residential buildings while still a student there. Williams became a certified architect in 1921, and the first certified African-American architect west of the Mississippi.

In 1954, Dorothy Dandridge (who was originally from Ohio but settled in Los Angeles) became the first black actress to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in the 1954 film Carmen Jones. Many years passed before the entertainment industry acknowledged Dandridge’s legacy. Starting in the 1980s, stars such as Cicely Tyson, Jada Pinkett Smith, Halle Berry, Janet Jackson, Whitney Houston, Kimberly Elise, Loretta Devine, Tasha Smith, and Angela Bassett acknowledged Dandridge’s contributions to the role of black Americans in film.

The Watts Riots took place in 1965.

In 1966, Mervyn Dymally, a Los Angeles teacher and politician, became the first African American to serve in the California State Senate. He went on to be elected as Lieutenant Governor in 1974.

Also in 1966, Yvonne Brathwaite Burke, an attorney from Los Angeles, became the first African American woman in the California Legislature and in 1972 became the first African American woman elected to the U.S. Congress from the West Coast. She served in Congress from 1973 until the end of 1978.

In 1972, Wattstax , also known as the “Black-Woodstock,” takes place in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Over 100,000 Black residents of Los Angeles attended this concert for African American pride. Later, in 1973, a documentary was released about the concert.

In 1973, Tom Bradley was elected as Mayor of Los Angeles, a role he’d hold for 20 years. L.A.’s first African American mayor, Bradley served over five terms, prior to the establishment of successive term limits, making him the longest-serving mayor of Los Angeles.

In 1981, two years after being drafted into the Los Angeles Lakers, Magic Johnson signed a 25-year, $25-million contract with the Lakers, which was the highest-paying contract in sports history up to that point. Johnson’s career was closely followed by the media and he became a favorite among Los Angeles sports fans. Among his many achievements are three NBA MVP Awards, nine NBA Finals appearances, twelve All-Star games, ten All-NBA First and Second Team nominations and he is the NBA’s all-time leader in average assists per game, at 11.2. Since his retirement, Johnson has been an advocate for HIV/AIDS prevention and safe sex, as well as an entrepreneur, philanthropist, broadcaster and motivational speaker. Named by Ebony Magazine as one of America’s most influential black businessmen in 2009, Johnson has numerous business interests, and was a part-owner of the Lakers for several years. Johnson also is part of a group of investors that purchased the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2012 and the Los Angeles Sparks in 2014.

Carl Lewis came to prominence at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, winning four gold medals, matching Jesse Owens’ legendary feat of winning four gold medals at the 1936 Olympics. Lewis was one of the biggest sporting celebrities in the world by the start of 1984, but owing to track and field’s relatively low profile in America, Lewis was not nearly as well known there.

In 1988, Florence Griffith Joyner (also known as Flo-Jo), born and raised in Los Angeles, and a UCLA graduate, won three gold medals at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul. She is considered the fastest woman of all time based on the fact that the world records she set in 1988 for both the 100m and 200m still stand and have yet to be seriously challenged.

In 1991, Rodney King was beaten by police officers. His videotaped beating was controversial, and heightened racial tensions in Los Angeles. Just 13 days after the videotaped beating of King, a 15-year-old African-American girl named Latasha Harlins was shot and killed by a 51-year-old Korean store owner named Soon Ja Du. A jury found Du guilty of voluntary manslaughter, an offense that carries a maximum prison sentence of 16-years. However, trial judge, Joyce Karlin, sentenced Du five years of probation, four hundred hours of community service, and a $500 fine. When four Los Angeles Police Department officers were acquitted of charges associated with the beating of Rodney King, the decision led to the 1992 Los Angeles riots.

In 1993, Etta James was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Known as the “The Matriarch of R&B”, James is regarded as having bridged the gap between rhythm and blues and rock and roll, and is the winner of six Grammys and 17 Blues Music Awards. She was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2001, and the Grammy Hall of Fame in both 1999 and 2008. James was born the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles, and received her first professional vocal training at age five from James Earle Hines, musical director of the Echoes of Eden choir, at the St. Paul Baptist Church in South Central.

The trial of the O. J. Simpson murder case took place in 1994.

In 2002, Serena Williams, raised in Los Angeles, became the Women’s Tennis Association’s World No. 1 player. Williams is regarded by some experts and former tennis players to be the greatest female tennis player in history. She has won four Olympic gold medals and is the only female player to have won over $60 million in prize money. Williams is the reigning US Open, WTA Tour Championships and Olympic ladies singles champion.

d largely in the Watts area of Los Angeles, he recorded in a band in Los Angeles in the 1940s.

 

---

The United States Census Bureau estimates that the population of California was 39,144,818 on July 1, 2015, a 5.08% increase since the 2010 United States Census.^[4] Between 2000 and 2009, there was a natural increase of 3,090,016 (5,058,440 births minus 2,179,958 deaths).  According to the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, since 1990 almost 3.4 million Californians have moved to other states, with most leaving to Texas, Nevada, and Arizona

Starting in the year 2010, for the first time since the California Gold Rush, California-born residents make up the majority of the state’s population.^[109] Along with the rest of the United States, California’s immigration pattern has also shifted over the course of the late 2000s-early 2010s.^[110] Immigration from Latin American countries has dropped significantly with most immigrants now coming from Asia.^[111] In total for 2011, there were 277,304 immigrants. 57% came from Asian countries vs. 22% from Latin American countries.^[111] Net immigration from Mexico, previously the most common country of origin for new immigrants has dropped to zero/less than zero, since more Mexican nationals are departing for their home country than immigrating.^[110] As a result it is estimated that Hispanic citizens will constitute 49% of the population by 2060, instead of the previously projected 2050, due primarily to domestic births

National origins

According to the United States Census Bureau in 2015 the population self-identifies as (alone or in combination):^[118]

• 72.9% White
• 14.7% Asian
• 6.5% Black or African American
• 3.8% Two or More Races
• 1.7% Native American and Alaska Native
• 0.5% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander

By ethnicity, in 2015 the population was 61.2% non-Hispanic (of any race) and 38.8% Hispanic or Latino (of any race).  As of 2011, 75.1% of California’s population younger than age 1 were minorities, meaning that they had at least one parent who was not non-Hispanic white (white Hispanics are counted as minorities).

In terms of total numbers, California has the largest population of White Americans in the United States, an estimated 22,200,000 residents. The state has the 5th largest population of African Americans in the United States, an estimated 2,250,000 residents. California’s Asian American population is estimated at 4.4 million, constituting a third of the nation’s total. California’s Native American population of 285,000 is the most of any state.^[120]

The state’s population of undocumented immigrants has been shrinking in recent years, due to increased enforcement and decreased job opportunities for lower-skilled workers.^[113] The number of migrants arrested attempting to cross the Mexican border in the Southwest plunged from a high of 1.1 million in 2005 to just 367,000 in 2011.^[114] Despite these recent trends, illegal aliens constituted an estimated 7.3 percent of the state’s population, the third highest percentage of any state in the country,^{[115][note 2]} totaling nearly 2.6 million.^[116] In particular, illegal immigrants tended to be concentrated in Los Angeles, Monterey, San Benito, Imperial, and Napa Counties – the latter four of which have significant agricultural industries that depend on manual labor.^[117] More than half of illegal immigrants originate from Mexico.^[116]

English serves as California’s de jure and de facto official language. In 2010, the Modern Language Association of America estimated that 57.02% (19,429,309) of California residents age 5 and older spoke only English at home, while 42.98% spoke another primary language at home.

In total, 16 languages other than English were spoken as primary languages at home by more than 100,000 persons, more than any other state in the nation. New York State, in second place, had 9 languages other than English spoken by more than 100,000 persons.^[131] The most common language spoken besides English was Spanish, spoken by 28.46% (9,696,638) of the population.^[112][110] With Asia contributing most of California’s new immigrants, California had the highest concentration nationwide of Vietnamese and Chinese speakers, the second highest concentration of Korean, and the third highest concentration of Tagalog speakers.^[2]

Rank	City	Population	County	Image	Description
1	Los Angeles	3,971,883	Los Angeles		Los Angeles is one of the world’s centers of media, business, and international trade. It is the second most-populous city in the United States. It is also the home to renowned institutions covering a broad range of educational and professional fields, and it is one of the most substantial economic engines of the United States. Los Angeles (and its Hollywood district) leads the world in producing entertainment such as motion pictures, television, and recorded music.
2	San Diego	1,394,928	San Diego		San Diego sits in the extreme south of California on the border with Mexico. The city has miles of beaches and a number of U.S. military facilities as well as the world’s busiest land border crossing. It is known as “the birthplace of California” since it was the first European landfall and the first European settlement in present-day California. The city’s economy largely relies on US defense and military-related industries, tourism, and some international trade. It is home to a number of institutions of higher learning, including the University of California, San Diego, the University of San Diego, San Diego State University, NewSchool of Architecture + Design, and Point Loma Nazarene University.
3	San Jose	1,026,908	Santa Clara		San Jose was founded on November 29, 1777, as one of the first towns in the Spanish colony of Nueva California, which later became Alta California.[2] The town of San Jose served 1849-1851 as the first state capital, when California gained statehood in 1850.[3] After more than 150 years as an agricultural center, San Jose grew due to demand for housing from soldiers returning from World War II, as well as the city’s aggressive expansion policy during the 1950s and 1960s as it annexed large portions of land area which helped increase its population. By the 1990s, San Jose’s location within the then-booming local technology industry earned the city the nickname Capital of Silicon Valley, and it hosts several prominent technology companies including Adobe Systems and Cisco Systems. San Jose is home to the National Hockey League‘s San Jose Sharks in addition to Major League Soccer‘s San Jose Earthquakes, as well as San Jose State University.
4	San Francisco	864,816	San Francisco		San Francisco is a popular international tourist destination renowned for its beauty, cosmopolitan flair, steep rolling hills, and eclectic mix of Victorian and modern architecture. The city is surrounded by water on three sides and has many famous landmarks, such as the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz Island, Palace of Fine Arts, the cable cars and streetcars, Coit Tower, and Chinatown. The city is well known for its left-wing politics and its diverse population, including large and long-established Asian American and LGBT communities. It is the most densely populated major city in California and is the second most densely populated major city in the United States, only after New York City. It is also the only consolidated city-county in the state of California. San Francisco is also home to the largest social media, technology, and biotech industries in the world. The City is also ranked the most expensive city in the United States and stands third in the world.
5	Fresno	520,052	Fresno		Fresno is at the heart of the San Joaquin Valley, a leading agricultural area of the United States and the world. Fresno is the closest major city to Yosemite National Park and Sequoia National Park. Fresno is the largest inland city in California. It is the home of California State University, Fresno. Fresno is also noted for its large Hmong and Armenian-American communities.
6	Sacramento	490,712	Sacramento		Sacramento has been the state capital of California since 1854. Once the state’s second largest city, Sacramento was a major distribution center during the California Gold Rush and was the western terminus of the Pony Express. The American River, where gold was first discovered in California in the middle of the 19th century, flows through the city. In the market boom between 2003 and 2008, the population of the metropolitan area reached close to 2.5 million people as suburbs such as Roseville, Lincoln, and Elk Grove grew, making the Sacramento region the largest region in the California’s Central Valley. According to the 2010 census, Sacramento is the nineteenth most-populous metropolitan area in the United States. Sacramento is home to the National Basketball Association’s Sacramento Kings. California State University, Sacramento is situated in the city.
7	Long Beach	474,140	Los Angeles		Long Beach is a coastal city in the Greater Los Angeles area metropolitan area. Long Beach partially borders the city of Los Angeles to its west and is home to the Grand Prix of Long Beach and the RMS Queen Mary, which is docked in Long Beach Harbor. The Port of Long Beach is one of the world’s largest shipping ports. The city also has a large oil industry; oil is found both underground and offshore. Manufacturers include aircraft, automobile parts, electronic and audiovisual equipment. It is also home to the headquarters for corporations such as Epson America, Molina Healthcare, and Scan Health Care. Long Beach has grown with the development of high-technology and aerospace industries in the area. The California State University system headquarters are in Long Beach, as is the second largest campus of the 23-school system, California State University, Long Beach.
8	Oakland	419,267	Alameda		Oakland is a major West Coast port and is home to several major corporations, including Kaiser Permanente and Clorox, as well as being the corporate headquarters for nationwide businesses like Dreyer’s and Cost Plus World Markets. Attractions include Jack London Square, the Oakland Museum of California, the Chabot Space and Science Center, Lake Merritt, the East Bay Regional Park District ridge line parks and preserves, and Chinatown. Oakland is also the home city of three of the Bay Area’s major league sports teams—Major League Baseball’s Oakland A’s, the Oakland Raiders of the National Football League, and the National Basketball Association’sGolden State Warriors, with the first two teams playing their home games as O.co Coliseum, while the Warriors play their home games at Oracle Arena.
9	Bakersfield	373,640	Kern		Bakersfield sits at the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley, an especially petroleum-rich area of California. Bakersfield is known for its musical achievements such as its own country genre called the “Bakersfield sound“. Bakersfield is also in close proximity with the Sequoia National Forest.
10	Anaheim	350,742	Orange		Anaheim is the most populous city in Orange County and second largest in terms of land area(after Irvine); it is known for the location of the Disneyland Resort, sports teams(such as the Anaheim Ducks, which is located at the Honda Center), and its convention center.
11	Santa Ana	334,909	Orange		Santa Ana is the county seat of Orange County and home to the famous Bowers Museum, and Discovery Science Center.
12	Riverside	322,424	Riverside		Riverside is the most populous city of Southern California’s Inland Empire region. Riverside is the birthplace of California’s citrus industry and home to the University of California, Riverside (UCR). Its downtown is home to the Mission Inn, one of two historic landmark hotels in California. The Mission Inn Festival of Lights is said to be the third largest Christmas lights display in the nation.[citation needed]
13	Stockton	305,658	San Joaquin		Stockton is at the heart of the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta and is sometimes considered the divider between the Sacramento Valley and the San Joaquin Valley. For much of the later 19th century, starting with the Gold Rush, Stockton was one of the largest cities in the state, for a while the third largest city. With a sea port on the San Joaquin River, it was an important agricultural and shipping center, roles which it continues to fulfill. Stockton is the home of the University of the Pacific.
14	Chula Vista	265,757	San Diego		A South Bay suburban city of San Diego, Chula Vista is just 7 miles (11 km) from the Mexican border. It is one of the most economically and culturally diverse cities in Southern California. It is the second largest city in California not near a river (San Francisco is the first).
15	Irvine	256,927	Orange		Irvine is a planned city, mainly developed by the Irvine Company since the 1960s. Irvine is home to the University of California, Irvine (UCI) and to a number of corporations, particularly in the technology sector. It is regarded for its good schools, jobs and housing by CNNMoney.com, for low crime by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Census Bureau ranks Irvine highly in median income.
16	Fremont	232,206	Alameda		Fremont was created as a single city in 1956, from the unification of several unincorporated communities that had historically been small but grew rapidly in the years after World War II. It is located in the San Francisco Bay Area just north of San Jose/Silicon Valley in the East Bay. Fremont is home to the Tesla Factory, producing electric cars.
17	San Bernardino	216,108	San Bernardino		San Bernardino is the second largest city in the Inland Empire metropolitan area of California, and the county seat of San Bernardino County, the largest county in geographic area in the 48 contiguous states. San Bernardino is home to California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB) and a number of corporations in addition to the San Bernardino International Airport. San Bernardino is the gateway to the San Bernardino Mountains, including its ski resorts and numerous lakes.
18	Modesto	211,266	Stanislaus		Modesto is in the center of the Central Valley east of San Francisco and south of the capital Sacramento. The city is surrounded by fertile farmland. Its population is growing fast due to affordable housing in the area and is quickly becoming a bedroom community for commuters to Sacramento, Fresno, and the San Francisco Bay Area.
19	Fontana	207,460	San Bernardino		Founded in 1913, Fontana remained rural until a Kaiser Steel mill was built during World War II. The city is now a regional hub of the trucking industry, and home of the California Speedway.
20	Oxnard	207,254	Ventura		Oxnard is one of only a handful of cities in the state that is the largest in its county, but not the county seat. It is an important agricultural center, with its distinction as the strawberry and lima bean capital of California. Oxnard has a scenic, relatively uncrowded coastline.
21	Moreno Valley	204,198	Riverside		Incorporated in 1984, Moreno Valley lies 65 miles (105 km) east of downtown Los Angeles, just north of Lake Perris. The city is home to the March Air Reserve Base.
22	Huntington Beach	201,899	Orange		This Orange County coastal city is best known for its 8.5-mile (13.7 km) beach. Huntington Beach is often referred to as “Surf City” due to its long association with the sport of surfing.
23	Glendale	201,020	Los Angeles		Glendale is the focal point of the Verdugo Mountains subregion and is home to a large Armenian-American community.
24	Santa Clarita	182,371	Los Angeles		Six Flags Magic Mountain is just outside Santa Clarita. The city was incorporated in 1987 as the union of several previously existing communities, including Canyon Country, Newhall, Saugus, and Valencia.
25	Oceanside	175,691	San Diego		The largest city in San Diego’s North County, Oceanside is home to the longest wooden pier on the West Coast and is directly south of Camp Pendleton, the busiest military base in the United States.
26	Garden Grove	175,393	Orange		Garden Grove is home to the second-largest Vietnamese American community, as well as the Crystal Cathedral.
27	Rancho Cucamonga	175,236	San Bernardino		Rancho Cucamonga was incorporated in 1977, as a result of a vote among the residents of the unincorporated communities of Alta Loma, Cucamonga, and Etiwanda.[4] The city was ranked #42 in ‘Money‘s “Best Places to Live in America 2006”.[5]
28	Santa Rosa	175,000	Sonoma		Santa Rosa is the largest city in California’s Wine Country and the Redwood Empire. The county seat of Sonoma County since 1854, it grew as a center of agriculture, shipping, and industry. It is today still an important local center of business and tourism. The city actually suffered the most destruction of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, which destroyed Santa Rosa’s entire downtown. Notable residents have included famed horticulturalist Luther Burbank and Peanuts cartoonist Charles M. Schulz.
29	Ontario	171,214	San Bernardino		Ontario is the third principal city of the Inland Empire area of California, home to Ontario International Airport and the region’s largest shopping mall, Ontario Mills.
30	Elk Grove	166,913	Sacramento		Elk Grove was a sleepy suburb of Sacramento until the housing boom of the 1990s and 2000s. Between the decades, the population has nearly tripled from around 50,000 to more than 150,000 inhabitants. The population has grown so much that Elk Grove has surpassed all of the other suburbs in size and inhabitants. The city was rated the fastest growing city in the United States in 2006. About 15 miles (24 km) from downtown Sacramento, Elk Grove has emerged as a popular place for young families to live and commute to the job centers of the area.
31	Corona	164,226	Riverside		Corona is one of the cities farthest west in the Inland Empire of Southern California. It is known as the “Circle City” due to Grand Boulevard’s 3-mile (5 km) circular layout. It is one of the greatest residential cities in the Inland Empire, but also has a large industrial portion on the northern half. It is the headquarters of companies such as Fender Musical Instruments Corporation, Hansen Natural Corporation, Watson Pharmaceuticals, and West Coast Customs (featured on MTV‘s Pimp My Ride).
32	Lancaster	161,103	Los Angeles		Lancaster started as a stop on the Union Pacific Railroad, and has grown into the fifth largest city in Los Angeles County. It began as a small farming community, and has since acquired a large and prosperous technology-driven sub-culture. Located in “Aerospace Valley”, it has always been on the cutting edge of technology, and is now aiming to become the nation’s first net-zero city.[citation needed]
33	Palmdale	158,351	Los Angeles		Commonly referred to as the “Aerospace Capital of America”, Palmdale is the birthplace of the Space Shuttle, X-15, B-2 Spirit, F-117 Nighthawk, F-35 Lightning II, SR-71 Blackbird, Lockheed L-1011 Tristar, and many other aircraft that have been used in the United States Air Force, NASA and air forces and airlines around the world. It is the sixth largest city in Los Angeles County and one of the fastest growing cities in the United States.
34	Hayward	158,289	Alameda		Hayward was an historic salt and agricultural processing center. Sea salt brand produced in Hayward were Oliver Brothers and Leslie Salt. In food processing, Hunt Brothers’ Cannery (later Hunt-Wesson Foods) produced canned and bottled tomato products, as well as canned peaches, apricots, and fruit cocktail. Since 1957 it has been the home of California State University, East Bay.
35	Salinas	157,380	Monterey		Salinas is an agricultural center and the hometown of famed writer and Nobel Laureate John Steinbeck.
36	Pomona	153,266	Los Angeles		Pomona is located between the Inland Empire and the San Gabriel Valley. The city is home of the Fairplex, which hosts the Los Angeles County Fair, the largest county fair in the United States, among others. It is home to the second largest polytechnic university in the United States, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.
37	Sunnyvale	151,754	Santa Clara		Part of the Silicon Valley, Sunnyvale is home to several large tech company headquarters such as AMD and Yahoo!.
38	Escondido	151,451	San Diego		Situated in San Diego’s North County region, Escondido is home to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park.
39	Torrance	148,475	Los Angeles		Torrance, 21 square miles (54 km2), is situated 11 miles (18 km) south of Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), 8 miles (13 km) north of the Port of Los Angeles, 30 miles (48 km) west of Disneyland and bounded by the Pacific Ocean on the west with 1.5 miles (2.4 km) of beach. Incorporated in 1921, it is the eighth largest city in Los Angeles County. Torrance averages 12.55 inches (319 mm) of rainfall per year.[6]
40	Pasadena	142,250	Los Angeles		Pasadena is famous for hosting the annual Tournament of Roses Parade and the Rose Bowl football game. The city is home to many scientific and cultural institutions such as NASA‘s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the Art Center College of Design, and the California Institute of Technology.
41	Orange	140,992	Orange		Unusual for cities in Orange County, Orange preserved many of its homes that were built prior to the 1960s, now located in the city’s Old Towne District, whereas many other cities in the region demolished such houses in the 1960s. Orange is the home of Chapman University.
42	Fullerton	140,847	Orange		Historically, Fullerton was a center of agriculture, petroleum extraction, transportation, and manufacturing. It is home to several educational institutions, notably the California State University, Fullerton and Fullerton College.
43	Roseville	130,269	Placer		Roseville is a suburb of Sacramento. It is very family oriented with many parks, bike trails, water parks etc., and in 2006 Roseville was named the healthiest city in America. Roseville is known for its high-end shopping including the Fountains, the Galleria (one of the biggest malls in northern California), and more.
44	Visalia	130,104	Tulare		Visalia is the oldest city between Stockton and Los Angeles.
45	Thousand Oaks	129,339	Ventura		Named after the many oak trees that grace the area, Thousand Oaks is the largest city in the Conejo Valley area.
46	Simi Valley	126,788	Ventura		Simi Valley is a bedroom community located in a valley of the same name. It is the site of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.
47	Concord	128,667	Contra Costa		Concord is a major regional suburban East Bay center within the San Francisco Bay Area. The former Concord Naval Weapons Station was located to the north of the city.
48	Santa Clara	126,215	Santa Clara		Santa Clara is located in the center of Silicon Valley and is home to the headquarters of Intel, Applied Materials, Sun Microsystems, NVIDIA, Agilent Technologies, and many other high-tech companies. It also is home to one of the largest theme parks in northern California, California’s Great America, and to Levi’s Stadium, a football stadium that currently serves as the home of the National Football League‘s San Francisco 49ers.
49	Victorville	122,225	San Bernardino		Victorville is located in the Victor Valley, at the southwestern edge of the Mojave Desert. It is the site of the Southern California Logistics Airport, formerly George Air Force Base before it was converted to civilian use.
50	Vallejo	121,253	Solano		Vallejo was home of the Mare Island Naval Shipyard, one of the most important naval shipyards in the country, from the 1850s until its closure in the 1990s. It was very briefly the capital of California in 1852. It is the largest city in Solano County, and the home of Six Flags Discovery Kingdom.
51	Berkeley	120,972	Alameda		Noted as one of the most politically liberal in the nation, the city is home to the University of California, Berkeley, the oldest of the University of California system.
52	El Monte	116,732	Los Angeles		El Monte lies in the San Gabriel Valley region and was formerly a crossroad along the Old Spanish Trail. It is home to Penske Motor Group, one of the largest car dealerships in the world.
53	Downey	114,219	Los Angeles		Located southeast of downtown Los Angeles, Downey is the birthplace of the Apollo space program and the site of the oldest surviving McDonald’s restaurant.
54	Carlsbad	113,453	San Diego		Carlsbad is an affluent, coastal resort city in the North San Diego County region. The city is mainly known for shopping, tourism, a booming high-tech industry, and resort living.
55	Costa Mesa	113,204	Orange		Since its incorporation in 1953, Costa Mesa has grown from a semi-rural farming community to a primarily suburban city with an economy based on retail, commerce, and light manufacturing.
56	Fairfield	112,970	Solano		Fairfield is the county seat of Solano County, but not the largest city in the county, which is Vallejo. It is the home of Travis Air Force Base and the Jelly Belly jelly bean factory.
57	Temecula	112,011	Riverside		Forming the southwestern anchor of the Inland Empire region, Temecula is the heart of the Temecula Valley wine region.
58	Inglewood	111,666	Los Angeles		Located southwest of downtown Los Angeles, Inglewood is home to the world famous The Forum arena, landmark Randy’s Donuts and the future City of Champions Stadium, home of the National Football League‘s Los Angeles Rams.
59	Antioch	110,542	Contra Costa		Located along the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta and known as “The Gateway to the Delta”, Antioch is a suburb of San Francisco, Oakland, and the rest of the San Francisco Bay Area. The town has seen an enormous amount of growth in the last 30 years, as the population of the Bay Area continues to grow, and real estate prices force families to move towards the outskirts of the Bay Area. In fact, it is located close enough to the Sacramento Metropolitan area that it can be seen to serve as a suburb of both Sacramento and the Bay Area.
60	Murrieta	109,830	Riverside		Formerly just a small unincorporated town in the Inland Empire, Murrieta has become one of the fastest growing cities in the state. It is now largely a commuter town, with many of its residents commuting to jobs in San Diego County, Orange County, and the neighboring city of Temecula.
61-tied	Richmond	109,708	Contra Costa		Richmond is located in western Contra Costa County along the eastern shores of San Francisco Bay. It has been called a company town based on its relationship with the Chevron Corporation, and it is the site of the Chevron Richmond Refinery.
61-tied	Ventura	109,708	Ventura		Ventura, officially the City of San Buenaventura, is the county seat of Ventura County. Ventura Harbor is home to the headquarters of Channel Islands National Park, and boats to the Channel Islands depart from there daily.
63	West Covina	108,484	Los Angeles		West Covina is a mostly middle class suburb located east of downtown Los Angeles in the eastern San Gabriel Valley.
64	Norwalk	107,140	Los Angeles		Norwalk is located southeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is home to Cerritos College.
65	Daly City	106,562	San Mateo		San Francisco’s southern neighbor, Daly City houses the famous Cow Palace (which many people mistakenly believe is in San Francisco), as well as the largest Filipino population outside of the Philippines.
66	Burbank	105,319	Los Angeles		Burbank is nicknamed the “Media Capital of the World”[7] for being the home of many media and entertainment production companies, including Warner Bros. Entertainment, Warner Music Group, NBC Universal, The Walt Disney Company, ABC, Cartoon Network Studios, and Nickelodeon.
67	Santa Maria	105,093	Santa Barbara		Santa Maria, the largest city in Santa Barbara County, is in the heart of the Santa Maria Valley wine region and is known for their famous Santa Maria Style Barbecue. Allan Hancock College, and St. Joseph High School are in the city.
68	Clovis	104,180	Fresno		Clovis is the second largest city in Fresno County. Lying at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, which includes Yosemite, Kings Canyon, and Sequoia national parks, Clovis has been known as the “Gateway to the Sierras”.
69	El Cajon	103,679	San Diego		El Cajon is located east of San Diego. Nestled in a valley surrounded by mountains, the city has acquired the nickname of “The Big Box”.[8]
70	San Mateo	103,536	San Mateo		San Mateo is one of the larger suburbs on the San Francisco Peninsula.
71	Rialto	103,132	San Bernardino		Rialto is home to four major regional distribution centers: Staples, Inc., which serves stores across the entire West Coast of the United States, Toys “R” Us, FedEx, and Target
72	Vista	100,890	San Diego		Vista is located just 7 miles (11 km) inland from the Pacific Ocean in northern San Diego County. The city has more than 25 educational institutions, and a business park home to over 800 companies.
73	Jurupa Valley	100,314	Riverside		Jurupa Valley was incorporated July 1, 2011.
74	Compton	98,462	Los Angeles		An inner suburb of Los Angeles, Compton is known for its large African American and Latino communities. The city is home to Richland Farms, one of the last urban farming communities in the Los Angeles metro area, and is also almost universally considered to be the birthplace of gangsta rap.
75	Mission Viejo	97,156	Orange		Located in southern Orange County in the Saddleback Valley, Mission Viejo is considered one of the largest master-planned communities ever built under a single project in the United States. The city is mainly residential, although there are a number of offices and businesses within its city limits.
76	Vacaville	96,803	Solano		Vacaville is located nearly halfway between Sacramento and San Francisco. It is home to several biotechnology/pharmaceutical facilities.
77	South Gate	96,401	Los Angeles		Located southeast of downtown Los Angeles, South Gate is part of the Gateway Cities region of Los Angeles County. In 1990, South Gate was one of ten U.S. communities to receive the All-America City Award from the National Civic League.[9]
78	Hesperia	93,295	San Bernardino		Hesperia is located in the High Desert region of the Mojave Desert 15 miles (24 km) north of San Bernardino.
79	Carson	93,281	Los Angeles		Carson is a suburb in the South Bay region of Greater Los Angeles. It is home of California State University, Dominguez Hills, and the StubHub Center sports complex, housing both of the Major League Soccer teams for Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Galaxy.
80	Santa Monica	93,220	Los Angeles		Santa Monica, a famed beachfront city surrounded on three sides by Los Angeles, is home to a mixture of affluent, single-family neighborhoods, renters, surfers, young professionals, and students. It is the site of the world-famous Santa Monica Pier.
81	San Marcos	92,931	San Diego		San Marcos is a suburb of San Diego and home of California State University, San Marcos.
82	Westminster	92,114	Orange		Westminster is known for its Vietnamese American community, one of the largest in the United States.
83	Santa Barbara	91,842	Santa Barbara		Santa Barbara is a popular tourist and resort coastal city, known for its downtown Moorish-Spanish style architecture, coastal weather, beautiful mountain backdrops, and numerous sandy beaches. The city’s economy includes a large service sector, education, technology, health care, finance, agriculture, manufacturing, and local government.
84	Redding	91,582	Shasta		Located on the banks of the Sacramento River, Redding is the largest city in California north of Sacramento. It is the gateway to numerous recreation areas including Shasta Lake, the Trinity Alps, and Mount Shasta. It is also home to the Sundial Bridge at Turtle Bay, the world’s largest sundial.
85	San Leandro	90,712	Alameda		Historically a town with dozens of huge cherry farms and a Spanish missionary ranch, San Leandro today is a rapidly growing city of worldwide industries and a suburb of Oakland.
86	Chico	90,316	Butte		Chico is the retail hub of the mid-Sacramento Valley and is home to institutions such as Bidwell Park, California State University Chico, and Sierra Nevada Brewing Company.
87	Hawthorne	88,451	Los Angeles		Hawthorne is a suburb of Los Angeles. It was the home of Brian, Carl, and Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys. Their boyhood home was demolished in the late 1980s during the construction of the Century Freeway, although it was honored by the dedication of the Beach Boys Historic Landmark (California Landmark 1041) in May 2005.
88	Livermore	88,126	Alameda		Located on the eastern edge of San Francisco Bay Area, Livermore is home of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and the Centennial Light. It is the largest city in the Tri-Valley area.
89	Indio	87,533	Riverside		Indio is located in the Coachella Valley region of the Sonoran Desert, 23 miles (37 km) east of Palm Springs and 134 miles (216 km) east of Los Angeles. Indio and its surrounding communities are regarded as a major agricultural center for Southern California and is the home of the world-renowned Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
90	Whittier	87,438	Los Angeles		Whittier is part of the Gateway Cities of Los Angeles County and is home to Whittier College.
91	Menifee	87,174	Riverside		Menifee is a relatively new city, incorporated in 2008, which includes the communities of Sun City, Quail Valley, Paloma Valley and portions of Romoland in southwestern Riverside County.
92	Newport Beach	87,127	Orange		Newport Beach is an affluent coastal city in Orange County, known for its beaches and surfing. Newport Harbor is the largest recreational boat harbor on the West Coast.
93	Tracy	87,075	San Joaquin		Tracy is the second most populated city in San Joaquin County. The city experienced a growth spurt in the 1980s, becoming an exurb of the San Francisco Bay Area as more people looked for a more affordable alternative to Bay Area home prices and a less hectic lifestyle.
94	Citrus Heights	87,056	Sacramento		Citrus Heights is a suburb located northeast of Sacramento.
95	Chino	85,595	San Bernardino		Chino and its surroundings have long been a center of agriculture and dairy farming, serving the considerable demands for milk products in Southern California and much of the southwestern United States.
96	Alhambra	85,551	Los Angeles		Alhambra is located in the western San Gabriel Valley region, east of downtown Los Angeles.
97	Redwood City	85,288	San Mateo		Redwood City, the county seat of San Mateo County, is a technology center and deepwater port located on the San Francisco Peninsula.
98	Hemet	83,861	Riverside		Hemet, in the San Jacinto Valley, is the home of the Ramona Pageant, one of the longest running outdoor plays in the United States.
99	Buena Park	83,270	Orange		Buena Park, in northwestern Orange County, is home of Knott’s Berry Farm and several other tourist attractions.
100	Lake Forest	82,492	Orange		Lake Forest, in inland Orange County is primarily suburban in character.