Fountain Valley is a suburban city in Orange County, California. The population was 57,047 in the 2020 census.

History

Indigenous The Indigenous people of the Fountain Valley area are the Tongva. The closest village to present-day site of the city was the village of Pasbenga. The village was part of a series of villages along what the Spanish would refer to as the Santa Ana River.

Spanish European settlement of the area began when Manuel Nieto was granted the land for Rancho Los Nietos, later Rancho Las Bolsas, which encompassed over , including present-day Fountain Valley. Control of the land was subsequently transferred to Mexico upon independence from Spain, and then to the United States as part of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.

Talbert Talbert was a settlement at what is now the intersection of Talbert and Bushard. It was also known as Gospel Swamp by residents.

Thomas B. Talbert was born outside Monticello in Piatt County, Illinois, in 1878. When Talbert was 13, his family moved to Long Beach, California. Around 1896, the family purchased more than of peat and swampland in what is now Fountain Valley. The Talberts opened a general store and thus the settlement of Talbert was established.

The area was full of farms growing beets that were processed at some of the nation's largest plants at Huntington Beach (Holly Sugar Plant) and at Delhi, now part of southwestern Santa Ana. The post office was established in 1899, with Thomas B. Talbert serving as the first postmaster.

The All-Saints Church is the only structure remaining from that era. The Santa Ana–Huntington Beach Line of the Pacific Electric Railway passed through Talbert and opened on July 5, 1909.

Incorporation The city was incorporated in 1957. The name of Fountain Valley refers to the very high water table in the area at the time the name was chosen, and the many corresponding artesian wells in the area. Early settlers constructed drainage canals to make the land usable for agriculture, which remained the dominant use of land until the 1960s, when construction of large housing tracts accelerated. The first mayor of Fountain Valley was James Kanno, who with this appointment became one of the first Japanese-American mayors of a mainland United States city.

After the Fall of Saigon in 1975, there was a large influx of Vietnamese refugees settling in Fountain Valley, especially in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s, forming a large percentage of Asian Americans in the city.

Geography The city is located southwest and northeast of the San Diego Freeway (Interstate 405), which diagonally bisects the city, and is surrounded by Huntington Beach on the south and west, Westminster and Garden Grove on the north, Santa Ana on the northeast, and Costa Mesa on the southeast. Its eastern border is the Santa Ana River.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , 0.14% of which is water.

Demographics

Fountain Valley first appeared as a city in the 1960 U.S. census as part of the North Coast census county division.

Racial and ethnic composition +Fountain Valley city, California – Racial and ethnic compositionRace / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)Pop 1980Pop 1990Pop 2000Pop 2010% 1980% 1990% 2000% 2010White alone (NH)46,32739,16432,14427,23422,23084.64%72.94%58.47%49.24%38.97%Black or African American alone (NH)3394855844735260.62%0.90%1.06%0.86%0.92%Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)393247171127710.72%0.48%0.31%0.23%0.12%Asian alone (NH)4,1029,36814,10018,32422,5327.49%17.45%25.65%33.13%39.50%Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)2021591260.37%0.29%0.22%Other race alone (NH)226601291132340.41%0.11%0.23%0.20%0.41%Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)xx1,7781,6332,491xx3.23%2.95%4.37%Hispanic or Latino (any race)3,6934,3575,8707,2508,8376.75%8.11%10.68%13.11%15.49%Total54,73453,69154,97855,31357,047100.00%100.00%100.00%100.00%100.00%

2020 census As of the 2020 census, Fountain Valley had a population of 57,047 and a population density of .

The age distribution was 18.6% under the age of 18, 8.6% aged 18 to 24, 22.5% aged 25 to 44, 28.6% aged 45 to 64, and 21.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45.2 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.2 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 91.8 males age 18 and over.

The census reported that 99.4% of the population lived in households, 0.4% lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0.3% were institutionalized. In total, 100.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 0.0% lived in rural areas.

There were 19,157 households, out of which 30.7% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 56.2% were married-couple households, 4.4% were cohabiting couple households, 25.4% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present, and 14.1% had a male householder with no spouse or partner present. About 18.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.96. There were 14,498 families (75.7% of all households).

There were 19,561 housing units at an average density of , of which 19,157 (97.9%) were occupied. Of these occupied units, 68.6% were owner-occupied and 31.4% were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 0.4%, and the rental vacancy rate was 2.8%.

2023 ACS 5-year estimates In 2023, the US Census Bureau estimated that 32.0% of the population were foreign-born. Of all people aged 5 or older, 53.9% spoke only English at home, 9.7% spoke Spanish, 3.2% spoke other Indo-European languages, 29.5% spoke Asian or Pacific Islander languages, and 3.7% spoke other languages. Of those aged 25 or older, 90.4% were high school graduates and 44.9% had a bachelor's degree.

The median household income was $111,797, and the per capita income was $48,238. About 3.8% of families and 7.3% of the population were below the poverty line.

2010 census The 2010 United States census reported that Fountain Valley had a population of 55,313. The population density was . The racial makeup of Fountain Valley was 31,225 (56.5%) White (49.2% Non-Hispanic White), 510 (0.9%) African American, 229 (0.4%) Native American, 18,418 (33.3%) Asian, 171 (0.3%) Pacific Islander, 2,445 (4.4%) from other races, and 2,315 (4.2%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 7,250 persons (13.1%).

The Census reported that 54,876 people (99.2% of the population) lived in households, 257 (0.5%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 180 (0.3%) were institutionalized.

There were 18,648 households, out of which 6,341 (34.0%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 11,142 (59.7%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 2,102 (11.3%) had a female householder with no husband present, 970 (5.2%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 646 (3.5%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 108 (0.6%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 3,451 households (18.5%) were made up of individuals, and 1,772 (9.5%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.94. There were 14,214 families (76.2% of all households); the average family size was 3.34.

The population was spread out, with 11,643 people (21.0%) under the age of 18, 4,624 people (8.4%) aged 18 to 24, 13,310 people (24.1%) aged 25 to 44, 16,020 people (29.0%) aged 45 to 64, and 9,716 people (17.6%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42.6 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.2 males.

There were 19,164 housing units at an average density of , of which 13,458 (72.2%) were owner-occupied, and 5,190 (27.8%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 0.8%; the rental vacancy rate was 3.8%. 40,718 people (73.6% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 14,158 people (25.6%) lived in rental housing units.

According to the 2010 United States census, Fountain Valley had a median household income of $81,212, with 6.7% of the population living below the federal poverty line.

Economy As a suburban city, most of Fountain Valley's residents commute to work in other urban centers. However, in recent years, the city has seen an increase in commercial jobs in the city, with the growth of a commercial center near the Santa Ana River known as the "Southpark" district.

Although the economy of the area was once based mainly on agriculture, the remaining production consists of several fields of strawberries or other small crops, which are gradually being replaced by new office development. Efforts to bolster economic activity are evidenced by the city enacting policies to benefit small businesses, and even going so far as to paint a mural on the facade of a large water treatment building facing the freeway that depicts two shopping bags headlined by the words, "Shop in Fountain Valley."

Fountain Valley is home to the national headquarters of Hyundai Motor America and D-Link Corporation, the global headquarters of memory chip manufacturer Kingston Technology, and the corporate headquarters of Surefire, LLC, maker of military and commercial flashlights. The Southpark commercial area is also home to offices for companies such as D-Link, Starbucks, Satura and the Orange County Register. There are also a limited number of light industrial companies in this area. In addition, Fountain Valley is the location for Noritz, a tankless water heater manufacturer, and the main west coast offices of Ceridian, a professional employer organization.

The increasing commercial growth can be evidenced by the frequent rush-hour traffic bottlenecks on the San Diego (405) Freeway through Fountain Valley.

Top employers According to the city's 2023 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, the top ten employers in the city are:

# Employer # of employees1Orange Coast Memorial Medical Center1,5632UCI Health - Fountain Valley1,5183Memorial Health Services9134Hyundai Motor America7495Kingston Technology6096Memorial Health Medical Foundation4937Costco4008SureFire3269Spec Services, Inc.23810Sam's Club219

Arts and culture Fountain Valley holds an annual Summerfest in June in Mile Square Regional Park. The event features a car show, rides, music, and booths.

The city has 18 churches, one Reform synagogue, a mosque and a public library.

Parks and recreation Fountain Valley is home to Mile Square Regional Park, a park containing two lakes, two 18-hole golf courses, playing fields, picnic shelters, and a urban nature area planted with California native plants, a recreation center with tennis courts, basketball courts, racquetball courts, a gymnasium, and the Kingston Boys & Girls Club; There is also a community center and a senior center that opened in September 2005. A major redevelopment of the recreation center and city-administered sports fields was completed in early 2009.

Government + Fountain Valley city vote by party in presidential elections Year Democratic Republican Third Parties202445.96% 13,54551.06% 15,0472.98% 878202047.11% 15,10950.98% 16,3491.91% 613201646.85% 12,00946.54% 11,3916.61% 1,694201241.82% 10,67955.69% 14,219 2.49% 636200842.14% 11,277 55.55% 14,8642.31% 618200430.00% 8,74864.82% 16,6781.19% 305200037.05% 8,89259.12% 14,1913.83% 920199636.05% 8,16953.88% 12,20910.07% 2,282199229.20% 7,67246.32% 12,16924.48% 6,432198828.54% 6,83470.39% 16,8551.07% 257198420.90% 4,92278.25% 18,4260.85% 201198020.16% 4,53770.77% 15,9289.07% 2,042197632.22% 6,52266.19% 13,4011.59% 322

In the California State Legislature, Fountain Valley is in , and in .

In the United States House of Representatives, Fountain Valley is in .

Politics