City of Santa Ana

HISTORY
Don Gaspár de Portolá, a Spanish expedition party leader, discovered a picturesque valley and river in Southern California which he christened Santa Ana, in honor of Saint Anne, on July 26, 1769. José Antonio Yorba, a youthful expedition soldier, and his nephew Juan Peralta, were given a Spanish land grant for the area. They developed the Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana for cattle grazing and productive farmland. In 1869, William H. Spurgeon purchased 70 acres from the Yorba family and plotted a townsite. The new town was given the name Santa Ana. In 1886, Santa Ana was incorporated as a city. Orange County was separated from Los Angeles in 1889, and Santa Ana was designated the County Seat. Santa Ana is the financial and governmental center of Orange County and a major city in the state

 

demographics

DEMOGRAPHIC AND ECONOMIC DATA
POPULATION
349,100 (California State Department of Finance, City Population Estimates, 01/01/2004)

ETHNICITY
Hispanic 77.70%; White 10.30%; Asian 10.08%; Black 1.00%; Am. Indian, Eskimo, Aleut 0.13%; Other 0.14%; Two or more races 0.65%. (U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey Data Profile, 2003,
Last Revised 09/13/2004)

MEDIAN AGE
27.8 (U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey Profile, 2003)

SCHOOL ENROLLMENT
59,793 (Santa Ana Unified School District, K-12, 02/26/04) 4,860 resident students attending Garden Grove schools located within Santa Ana city limits (Garden Grove Unified School District, 02/18/04)

VOTER REGISTRATION
90,464 (Orange County Registrar of Voters, SOS District, 10/25/04)

CIVILIAN LABOR FORCE
178,890 (State of California, Employment Development Department, (September 2004)

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE
5.8%, (10,360 State of California, Employment Development Department, (September 2004)

LARGEST PRIVATE EMPLOYERS Orange County Register, Ingram Micro, Ricoh Electronics,
Western Medical Center, One Source
(The City of Santa Ana, Economic Development Division, 2003)

HOUSING UNITS
75,006 (California State Department of Finance, Housing Estimates, 01/01/2004)

TAXABLE SALES
$3,481,362,000 (California State Board of Equalization, 01/2002 – 12/2002)

MEDIAN HOUSEHOLD INCOME
$36,962 (U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey
Profile, 2003/S. & M.M. Survey of Buying Power, 2004)