8402 Melrose Circle
Westminster, CA 92683

City of Westminster
—  City  —
Seal
Motto: "The City of Progress Built on Pride." [1]
Location of Westminster within Orange County, California.
Coordinates: 33°45′5″N 117°59′38″W / 33.75139°N 117.99389°W / 33.75139; -117.99389Coordinates: 33°45′5″N 117°59′38″W / 33.75139°N 117.99389°W / 33.75139; -117.99389
Country	United States
State	California
County	Orange
Incorporated (city)	March 27, 1957
Government
• City Council	Mayor Tri Ta Margie Rice Andy Quach Sergio Contreras Diana Carey
• City Manager	Mitch Waller
Area[2]
• Total	10.049 sq mi (26.027 km2)
• Land	10.049 sq mi (26.027 km2)
• Water	0 sq mi (0 km2)  0%
Elevation	39 ft (12 m)
Population (2010)
• Total	89,701
• Density	Bad rounding here8,900/sq mi (Bad rounding here3,400/km2)
Time zone	PST (UTC-8)
• Summer (DST)	PDT (UTC-7)
ZIP codes	92683-92685
Area code(s)	714
FIPS code	06-84550
GNIS feature ID	1652811
Website	http://www.westminster-ca.gov/

Westminster is a city in Orange County, California. It was founded in 1870 by Rev. Lemuel Webber as a Presbyterian temperance colony. Its name is taken from the Westminster Assembly of 1643, which laid out the basic tenets of the Presbyterian faith. For several years of its early history, its farmers refused to grow grapes because they associated grapes with alcohol.

[edit] History

Westminster was incorporated in 1957, at which time it had 10,755 residents. Originally, the city was named Tri-City because it was the amalgamation of three cities: Westminster, Barber City, and Midway City. Midway City ultimately turned down incorporation, leaving Barber City to be absorbed into the newly incorporated Westminster. The former Barber City was located in the western portion of the current city of Westminster.

Westminster is landlocked and bordered by Seal Beach on the west, by Garden Grove on the north and east, and by Huntington Beach and Fountain Valley on the south.

Westminster surrounds the unincorporated area of Midway City, except for a small portion where Midway City meets Huntington Beach to the south.

A large number of Vietnamese refugees came to the city in the 1970s, settling largely in an area now officially named Little Saigon, and the city is unofficially known as the "capital" of overseas Vietnamese with 36,058 Vietnamese Americans and at 40.2% (2010), the highest concentration of Vietnamese-Americans of any city in America.

As of the 2010 census, the city has a population of 89,701, up from 88,207 at the 2000 census. Westminster won the All-America City Award in 1996.

[edit] Demographics

[edit] 2010

The 2010 United States Census^[3] reported that Westminster had a population of 89,701. The population density was 8,926.5 people per square mile (3,446.5/km²). The racial makeup of Westminster was 32,037 (35.7%) White, 849 (0.9%) African American, 397 (0.4%) Native American, 42,597 (47.5%) Asian, 361 (0.4%) Pacific Islander, 10,229 (11.4%) from other races, and 3,231 (3.6%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 21,176 persons (23.6%). With 36,058 Vietnamese Americans and at 40.2%, the city has the highest concentration of Vietnamese-Americans of any city in America.

The Census reported that 89,031 people (99.3% of the population) lived in households, 381 (0.4%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 289 (0.3%) were institutionalized.

There were 26,164 households, out of which 10,759 (41.1%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 14,986 (57.3%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 3,681 (14.1%) had a female householder with no husband present, 1,810 (6.9%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 1,114 (4.3%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 151 (0.6%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 4,247 households (16.2%) were made up of individuals and 2,170 (8.3%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.40. There were 20,477 families (78.3% of all households); the average family size was 3.74.

The population was spread out with 20,920 people (23.3%) under the age of 18, 8,568 people (9.6%) aged 18 to 24, 24,065 people (26.8%) aged 25 to 44, 23,356 people (26.0%) aged 45 to 64, and 12,792 people (14.3%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38.7 years. For every 100 females there were 97.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.4 males.

There were 27,650 housing units at an average density of 2,751.5 per square mile (1,062.4/km²), of which 15,135 (57.8%) were owner-occupied, and 11,029 (42.2%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.5%; the rental vacancy rate was 7.3%. 51,408 people (57.3% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 37,623 people (41.9%) lived in rental housing units.

[edit] 2000