Elevation: 50 feet
Davis grew around a Southern Pacific Railroad depot which was built in 1868. At that time it was known as "Davisville" (named for Jerome C. Davis - a prominent local farmer). However, the post office at Davisville shortened the town name to simply "Davis" in 1907. The name stuck, and the city of Davis was incorporated in March of 1917.
From its inception as a farming community, Davis has been known for its contributions to agriculture along with veterinary care and animal husbandry. This has especially been true ever since the University of California decided to build a land grant university there in 1908. Now the city is also known for for its contributions in the areas of biotechnology, medicine and other life sciences.
Davis is located at 38°33'14" North, 121°44'17" West (38.553856, -121.738095)1.
The city of Davis is located in Yolo County which is in the Sacramento Valley portion of the Central Valley in Northern California. The city is 11 miles west of Sacramento, 72 miles northeast of San Francisco, 385 miles north of Los Angeles, and 115 miles west of Lake Tahoe. Interstate 80 runs through the south side of town, and highway 113 is on the west side.
Neighboring towns include Dixon, Winters, and Woodland.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 27.1 km² (10.5 mi²). 27.1 km² (10.4 mi²) of it is land and 0.1 km² (0.04 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 0.19% water.
The topography of Davis is very flat, which has helped Davis to become known as a haven for bicyclists.
As of the census2 of 2000, there are 60,308 people, 22,948 households, and 11,290 families residing in the city. The population density is 2,228.2/km² (5,769.2/mi²). There are 23,617 housing units at an average density of 872.6/km² (2,259.3/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 70.07% White, 2.35% African American, 0.67% Native American, 17.54% Asian, 0.24% Pacific Islander, 4.26% from other races, and 4.87% from two or more races. 9.61% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There are 22,948 households out of which 26.4% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.3% are married couples living together, 8.2% have a female householder with no husband present, and 50.8% are non-families. 25.0% of all households are made up of individuals and 5.2% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.50 and the average family size is 3.00.
In the city the population is spread out with 18.6% under the age of 18, 30.9% from 18 to 24, 27.1% from 25 to 44, 16.7% from 45 to 64, and 6.6% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 25 years. For every 100 females there are 91.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 87.8 males.
The median income for a household in the city is $42,454, and the median income for a family is $74,051. Males have a median income of $51,189 versus $36,082 for females. The per capita income for the city is $22,937. 24.5% of the population and 5.4% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty, 6.8% are under the age of 18 and 2.8% are 65 or older.
The University of California has a major campus in the city of Davis. UC Davis had an enrollment of 29,000 students as of 2002.History
Geography
Demographics
Colleges and Universities