San Jose, California

San Jose
Official seal of San Jose
Official logo of San Jose
Motto: 
Capital of Silicon Valley
Map
Map
Map
Map
Coordinates: 37°20′10″N 121°53′26″W / 37.33611°N 121.89056°W / 37.33611; -121.89056
CountryUnited States
StateCalifornia
CountySanta Clara
RegionSan Francisco Bay Area
MetroSan Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara
CSASan Jose-San Francisco-Oakland
Pueblo foundedNovember 29, 1777 (1777-11-29)
Founded asPueblo de San José de Guadalupe
IncorporatedMarch 27, 1850 (1850-03-27)[1]
Named forSaint Joseph
Government
 • TypeCouncil–manager[2]
 • BodySan Jose City Council
 • MayorMatt Mahan[3] (D)
 • Vice mayorRosemary Kamei (D)
 • City CouncilSergio Jimenez (D)
Omar Torres (D)
David Cohen (D)
Peter Ortiz (D)
Dev Davis (I)
Bien Doan (R)
Domingo Candelas (D)
Pam Foley (D)
Arjun Batra (D)
 • City ManagerJennifer Maguire[4]
 • Assemblymembers[5]
Area
 • City181.36 sq mi (469.72 km2)
 • Land178.24 sq mi (461.63 km2)
 • Water3.12 sq mi (8.09 km2)  1.91%
 • Urban
285.48 sq mi (739.4 km2)
 • Metro
2,694.61 sq mi (6,979 km2)
Elevation82 ft (25 m)
Lowest elevation0 ft (0 m)
Population
 (2020)
 • City1,013,240
 • Estimate 
(2022)[9]
971,233
 • Rank32nd in North America
12th in the United States
3rd in California
 • Density5,684.69/sq mi (2,194.92/km2)
 • Urban
1,837,446 (US: 28th)
 • Urban density6,436.4/sq mi (2,485.1/km2)
 • Metro2,000,468 (US: 35th)
Demonym(s)San Josean(s)
San Joséan(s)
Josefino/a(s)
Time zoneUTC−08:00 (PST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC−07:00 (PDT)
ZIP Codes
List
  • 95002
  • 95008
  • 95101
  • 95103
  • 95106
  • 95108–95113
  • 95115–95141
  • 95148
  • 95150–95161
  • 95164, 95170
  • 95172
  • 95173
  • 95129
  • 95190–95194
  • 95196[11]
Area code(s)408/669
FIPS code06-68000
GNIS feature IDs1654952, 2411790
Websitewww.sanjoseca.gov

San Jose, officially the City of San José (Spanish for 'Saint Joseph'[14] /ˌsæn hˈz, -ˈs/ SAN hoh-ZAY, -⁠SAY; Spanish: [saŋ xoˈse]),[15] is the largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2022 population of 971,233,[9] it is the most populous city in both the Bay Area and the San Jose–San Francisco–Oakland Combined Statistical Area—which in 2022 had a population of 7.5 million and 9.0 million respectively[16][17]—the third-most populous city in California after Los Angeles and San Diego, and the 12th-most populous in the United States.[18][19] Located in the center of the Santa Clara Valley on the southern shore of San Francisco Bay, San Jose covers an area of 179.97 sq mi (466.1 km2). San Jose is the county seat of Santa Clara County and the main component of the San Jose–Sunnyvale–Santa Clara Metropolitan Statistical Area, with an estimated population of around two million residents in 2018.[20]

San Jose is notable for its innovation, cultural diversity,[21] affluence,[22] and sunny and mild Mediterranean climate.[23] Its connection to the booming high tech industry phenomenon known as Silicon Valley[24] prompted Mayor Tom McEnery to adopt the city motto of "Capital of Silicon Valley" in 1988 to promote the city.[25] Major global tech companies including Cisco Systems, eBay, Adobe Inc., PayPal, Broadcom, and Zoom maintain their headquarters in San Jose. San Jose is one of the wealthiest major cities in the world, with the third-highest GDP per capita (after Zürich and Oslo)[26] and the fifth-most expensive housing market.[27] It is home to one of the world's largest overseas Vietnamese populations,[28] a Hispanic community that makes up over 40% of the city's residents,[29] and historic ethnic enclaves such as Japantown and Little Portugal.

Before the arrival of the Spanish, the area around San Jose was long inhabited by the Tamien nation of the Ohlone peoples of California. San Jose was founded on November 29, 1777, as the Pueblo de San José de Guadalupe, the first city founded in the Californias.[30] It became a part of Mexico in 1821 after the Mexican War of Independence.

Following the American Conquest of California during the Mexican–American War, the territory was ceded to the United States in 1848. After California achieved statehood two years later, San Jose was designated as the state's first capital.[31] Following World War II, San Jose experienced an economic boom, with a rapid population growth and aggressive annexation of nearby cities and communities carried out in the 1950s and 1960s. The rapid growth of the high-technology and electronics industries further accelerated the transition from an agricultural center to an urbanized metropolitan area. Results of the 1990 U.S. census indicated that San Jose had officially surpassed San Francisco as the most populous city in Northern California.[32] By the 1990s, San Jose had become the global center for the high tech and internet industries and was California's fastest-growing economy for 2015–2016.[33] Between April 2020 and July 2022, San Jose lost 42,000 people, 4.1% of its population, dropping to 12th largest city position in largest city ranking.[34]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference incorporated was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "Government". San Jose, California. Archived from the original on March 15, 2015. Retrieved March 15, 2015.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference council was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ "San Jose, California's City Council appointed Jennifer Maguire interim City Manager". July 13, 2021. Archived from the original on August 24, 2021. Retrieved August 24, 2021.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference sad was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ "2019 U.S. Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on August 26, 2022. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference elevation was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ a b "Elevations and Distances". US Geological Survey. April 29, 2005. Archived from the original on November 9, 2013. Retrieved February 10, 2015.
  9. ^ a b "QuickFacts: San Jose city, California". United States Census Bureau.
  10. ^ "2020 Population and Housing State Data". Census.gov. United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on August 24, 2021. Retrieved August 22, 2021.
  11. ^ "ZIP Code(tm) Lookup". United States Postal Service. Archived from the original on November 16, 2014. Retrieved November 23, 2014.
  12. ^ "San Jose City Manager Norberto Duenas Has Interim Tag Removed". San Jose Inside. Metro Newspapers. May 5, 2015. Archived from the original on May 7, 2015. Retrieved May 5, 2015.
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference ssd was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ Cite error: The named reference City Charter 2021 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  15. ^ In isolation, San is pronounced Spanish pronunciation: [san].
  16. ^ "It's Official: A Quarter Million People Fled the Bay Area Since 2020". The San Francisco Standard. March 31, 2023. Retrieved December 18, 2023.
  17. ^ "Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas Population Totals: 2020-2022". Census.gov. Retrieved December 18, 2023.
  18. ^ "U.S. Census website". U.S. Census Bureau. Archived from the original on August 7, 2022. Retrieved December 3, 2019.
  19. ^ "San Jose no longer in Top 10 of most populous U.S. cities". The Mercury News. May 18, 2023. Retrieved May 20, 2023.
  20. ^ "Annual Estimates of the Resident Population: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2018". United States Census Bureau, Population Division. April 2019. Archived from the original on February 13, 2020. Retrieved May 30, 2019.
  21. ^
  22. ^
  23. ^ Kettmann, Steve (November 4, 2005). "36 Hours in San Jose, Calif". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 26, 2022. Retrieved March 26, 2022.
  24. ^ "Where is Silicon Valley?". Silicon Valley Historical Association. Archived from the original on July 4, 2020. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
  25. ^
  26. ^ "Silicon Valley Business Journal – San Jose Area has World's Third-Highest GDP Per Capita, Brookings Says". Archived from the original on March 9, 2017. Retrieved March 8, 2017.
  27. ^ Millington, Alison. "The 10 most expensive cities to live in around the world in 2017". Business Insider. Archived from the original on March 26, 2022. Retrieved March 26, 2022.
  28. ^ Nguyen, Beth (August 17, 2016). "Preserving Vietnamese Tradition in Silicon Valley". Museum of Food and Drink. Archived from the original on January 22, 2022. Retrieved April 20, 2022.
  29. ^ Gary, Jesse (September 20, 2021). "Combatting a decades-old Silicon Valley problem: Inclusivity amongst Hispanic populations". KTVU FOX 2. Archived from the original on March 26, 2022. Retrieved March 26, 2022.
  30. ^ "The First City". California History Online. Archived from the original on February 18, 2008. Retrieved March 15, 2008.
  31. ^ "California Admission Day—September 9, 1850". California State Parks. 2007. Archived from the original on March 28, 2016. Retrieved March 15, 2008.
  32. ^ Cite error: The named reference 1990census was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  33. ^ "Silicon Valley Business Journal – San Jose has the Fastest-Growing Economy in California". Archived from the original on August 19, 2018. Retrieved September 27, 2017.
  34. ^ Li, Roland; Rezal, Adriana (May 17, 2023). "This Bay Area city is no longer one of 10 biggest in U.S. — booted by cities in Florida and Texas". San Francisco Chronicle.