Hesperia, California

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The City of Hesperia is part of San Bernardino County, California located in the Mojave Desert 75 miles northeast of Los Angeles. The locals refer to the surrounding area as the High Desert. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 62,582. In 2006, the Hesperia municipal government estimated the population at 80,000.

Supervisor Bill Postmus, Chairman of the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors, is from Hesperia.

[edit] Geography

Hesperia is located at 34°24′46″N, 117°18′22″W (34.412903, -117.306189)^GR1.

The California Aqueduct splits the city down the center from north to south where it then heads underground on its way to Silverwood Lake.

The Mojave River flows north through the east side of the city.

Elevation: 3191 ft

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 174.6 km² (67.4 mi²). 174.4 km² (67.3 mi²) of it is land and 0.2 km² (0.1 mi²) of it (0.10%) is water.

Hesperia is the 4th largest city in the Palmdale Metropolitan Area.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 62,582 people, 19,966 households, and 15,773 families residing in the city. The population density was 358.8/km² (929.3/mi²). There were 21,348 housing units at an average density of 122.4/km² (317.0/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 74.28% White, 4.03% African American, 1.27% Native American, 1.07% Asian, 0.19% Pacific Islander, 14.46% from other races, and 4.69% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 29.40% of the population.

There were 19,966 households out of which 42.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.9% were married couples living together, 13.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 21.0% were non-families. 16.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.12 and the average family size was 3.47.

In the city the population was spread out with 32.8% under the age of 18, 9.3% from 18 to 24, 27.4% from 25 to 44, 19.6% from 45 to 64, and 11.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 97.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.1 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $40,201, and the median income for a family was $43,004. Males had a median income of $39,776 versus $25,665 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,487. About 11.1% of families and 14.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 18.2% of those under age 18 and 6.4% of those age 65 or over.