Chico is a larger medium-sized city located in the state of California. With a population of 59,444 people and 17 constituent neighborhoods, Chico is the 119th largest community in California.

Unlike some cities where white-collar or blue-collar occupations dominate the local economy, Chico is neither predominently one or the other. Instead, it has a mixed workforce of both white- and blue-collar jobs. Overall, Chico is a city of sales and office workers, professionals, and service providers. There are especially a lot of people living in Chico who work in office and administrative support jobs (15.75%), sales jobs (12.78%), and teaching (9.77%).

In addition, Chico is a major college town that has a very high percentage of its residents over 18 years old who are college students. Naturally, collegiate life has a major influence on local Chico culture, lifestyle and entertainment options. Chico really pulses to the beat of the academic calendar. In Chico every fall, returning students reinvigorate the community, who you will notice are all over town, buying groceries, out with friends, and getting acquainted or re-acquainted with each other and Chico. One of the beneficial effects that colleges provide is that they tend to be lasting institutions that deliver direct economic benefits to the local economy in the form of such things as jobs for faculty and staff, and spending by students. Chico benefits directly from this.

Not only is Chico a city with many college students, but it also retains many recent graduates who are looking to start new careers, creating a decent-sized population of people who are young, single, educated, and upwardly-mobile. This makes it a good choice for other relocating single professionals. Here, these young singles will find many others like themselves, with opportunities for friendships, socializing, romance, and fun.

Compared to the rest of the country, citizens of Chico spend much less time in their cars: on average, their commute to work is only 17.41 minutes. This also means that noise and pollution levels in the city are less than they would otherwise be.

Chico Information and Demographics

The citizens of Chico are very well educated compared to the average community in the nation: 33.63% of adults in Chico have a bachelor's degree or even advanced degree.

The per capita income in Chico in 2000 was $16,970, which is lower middle income relative to California, and middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $67,880 for a family of four.

Chico is a somewhat ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Chico home come from a variety of different races and ancestries. The most prevalent race in Chico is White, followed by Asian. Chico also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 12.17% of the city's residents. Important ancestries of people in Chico include German, Irish, English, Italian, and Scottish.

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