Costa Mesa Basic Data
| City of Costa Mesa |
| — City — |
Seal |
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Location of Costa Mesa within Orange County, California |
Coordinates: 33°39′54″N 117°54′44″W / 33.665°N 117.91222°W / 33.665; -117.91222
Coordinates: 33°39′54″N 117°54′44″W / 33.665°N 117.91222°W / 33.665; -117.91222 |
| Country |
 United States |
| State |
 California |
| County |
Orange |
| Government |
| - Type |
Council-Manager |
| - City Council |
Mayor Allan Mansoor
Wendy Leece
Eric Bever
Katrina Foley
Gary Monahan |
-
City Manager |
Allan Roeder |
-
City Treasurer / Finance Director |
Marc Puckett, CCMT |
| Area |
| - Total |
15.7 sq mi (40.6 km) |
| - Land |
15.61 sq mi (40.5 km) |
| - Water |
0.1 sq mi (0.2 km) |
| Elevation |
98 ft (30 m) |
| Population (January 1, 2010) |
| - Total |
117,178 |
| - Density |
7,493.6/sq mi (2,893.28/km) |
| Time zone |
PST (UTC-8) |
| - Summer (DST) |
PDT (UTC-7) |
| ZIP codes |
92626-92628 |
| Area code(s) |
714/949 |
| FIPS code |
06-16532 |
| GNIS feature ID |
1652692 |
| Website |
http://ci.costa-mesa.ca.us |
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Photos of Costa Mesa and surrounding area
Costa Mesa History
Members of the Gabrieleño/Tongva and Juaneño/Luiseño nations long inhabited the area. After the 1769 expedition of Gaspar de Portolà, a Spanish expedition led by Father Junípero Serra named the area Vallejo de Santa Ana (Valley of Saint Anne). On November 1, 1776, Mission San Juan Capistrano became the area's first permanent European settlement in Alta California, New Spain.
In 1801, the Spanish Empire granted 62,500 acres (253 km) to Jose Antonio Yorba, which he named Rancho San Antonio. Yorba's great rancho included the lands where the communities of Olive, Orange, Villa Park, Santa Ana, Tustin, Costa Mesa and Newport Beach stand today.
After the Mexican-American war, California became part of the United States and American settlers arrived in this area and formed the town of Fairview in the 1880s near the modern intersection of Harbor Boulevard and Adams Avenue. An 1889 flood wiped out the railroad serving the community, however, and it shriveled.
To the south, meanwhile, the community of Harper had arisen on a siding of the Santa Ana and Newport Railroad, named after a local rancher. This town prospered on its agricultural goods. On May 11, 1920, Harper changed its name to Costa Mesa, which literally means "coast table(land)" in Spanish. This is a reference to the city's geography as being a plateau by the coast.
Costa Mesa surged in population during and after World War II, as many thousands trained at Santa Ana Army Air Base and returned after the war with their families. Within three decades of incorporation, the city's population had nearly quintupled.
City Information
Zip Code(s): 92626 92627 92628
Area Code(s): 949
State: California State
County: Orange County
Average House Value: $273,100
Average Household Income: $50,732
People Per Household: 0
Time Zone: Pacific (GMT -8:00)
MSA: 4472
PMSA: 5945
CSA: 348
CBSA: 31100
Geography
Land Area: 15.6 Sq. Mi.
Elevation: 101 feet
City Population
Total Population: 108,724
Male Population: 55,694
Female Population: 53,030
Average Resident Age: 32.0%
Percent Foreign Born: 29.2%
City Marital Status
| Never Married |
 (35.7%) |
| Married |
(46.3%) |
| Separated (Married) |
(2.3%) |
| Widowed |
(4.2%) |
| Divorced |
(11.5%) |
| |
| Races |
| White Non-Hispanic | (56.8%) | | Hispanic | (31.8%) | | Other race | (16.6%) | | Two or more races | (4.3%) | | Vietnamese | (2.0%) |
| |
| Ancestries |
| German | (12.4%) | | Irish | (9.4%) | | English | (9.4%) | | Italian | (5.0%) | | United States | (3.8%) | | French | (3.1%) |
| |
| Schooling |
| High School |
(79.1%) |
| Bachelors |
(29.1%) |
| Graduates |
(8.3%) |
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