Manhattan Beach is a medium-sized coastal city (ie. on the ocean or tidally-influenced rivers) located in the state of California. With a population of 34,039 people and eight constituent neighborhoods, Manhattan Beach is the 217th largest community in California.

Manhattan Beach is a decidedly white-collar city, with fully 95.02% of the workforce employed in white-collar jobs, well above the national average. Overall, Manhattan Beach is a city of professionals, managers, and sales and office workers. There are especially a lot of people living in Manhattan Beach who work in management occupations (20.43%), sales jobs (14.75%), and office and administrative support jobs (9.63%).

Of important note, Manhattan Beach is also a city of artists. Manhattan Beach has more artists, designers and people working in media than 90% of the communities in America. This concentration of artists helps shape Manhattan Beach's character.

Also of interest is that Manhattan Beach has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.

Manhattan Beach, while not large, also appears to be attractive to some younger, educated professionals, who help shape the character of the city.

In addition to being popular with young singles, Manhattan Beach is also home to many people who can be described as "urban sophisticates." While both of these categories describe educated professionals, urban sophisticates are quite a different demographic. Urban sophisticates are people who are both educated and wealthy, and thus tend to be older, richer, and more established than young professionals. "Urban sophisticates" is not just about being educated and well-off financially: it is a point of view and state of mind, one that you might call 'urbaneness.' But such people can and do regularly live in small towns, suburbs and rural areas, as well as in big cities. They read, support the arts and high-end shops, and love travel.

The city is also nautical, which means that parts of Manhattan Beach are somewhat historic and bounded by the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and tidal rivers. Such areas are often places that visitors and locals go for waterfront activities or taking in the scenery.

"If you live in Manhattan Beach, you are going to have to drive to get to work," say area residents. At least that is what most Manhattan Beach residents do (97.2%). Manhattan Beach is primarily built for cars, and driving around town will bare this out. Shopping centers, parking lots, strip malls, and wide streets are what you'll find. Sidewalks? Sure. But not everywhere, and walking to most places can be downright scary.

Manhattan Beach Information and Demographics

Do you have a 4-year college degree or graduate degree? If so, you may feel right at home in Manhattan Beach. 67.60% of adults here have a 4-year degree or graduate degree, whereas the national average for all cities and towns is just 14.96%.

The per capita income in Manhattan Beach in 2000 was $61,136, which is wealthy relative to California and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $244,544 for a family of four. However, Manhattan Beach contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

The people who call Manhattan Beach home come from a variety of different races and ancestries. The most prevalent race in Manhattan Beach is White, followed by Asian. Important ancestries of people in Manhattan Beach include German, English, Irish, Italian, Russian, Polish, and Swedish.

The most common language spoken in Manhattan Beach is English. Some people also speak Spanish.