Hayward, California Population 2024

Hayward is located in Alameda County, California in the San Francisco Bay area about 35 miles outside of San Francisco and 16 miles south of Oakland. Hayward is the 6th largest city in the Bay Area and the 37th largest city in California.

Diversity

Hayward has a foreign-born population of nearly 39%. Hispanics represent the largest racial and ethnic community in Hayward with common ancestry groups including Mexican (30.2%), Salvadoran (2.5%), Puerto Rican (1.5%), Nicaraguan (1.2%), Honduran (1%), Peruvian (0.5%), and Cuban (0.2%). Asian-Americans represent the second largest group with common ancestries of Filipino (10.4%), Chinese (3.9%), Indian (3%), Vietnamese (2.7%), Japanese (0.5%), Korean (0.5%), Cambodian (0.2%), and Pakistani (0.1%).

Hayward is considered California's second most diverse city and it also ranks very high nationwide.

Population Growth

Hayward's population has climbed from 144,000 in 2010 to an estimated 160,500 in 2019. Hayward is still growing at a modest rate although it's held back by the region's high cost of living. The San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward region is expected to grow by 0.5% by 2030.

In 1841, the area of Hayward became part of the Spanish land grant Rancho San Lorenzo awarded to Guillermo Castro. Castro built his home on what is now Mission Boulevard. In the 1850s, the California Gold Rush and the discovery of gold in the Bay Area helped the region grow. William Hayward arrived in the area during the gold rush and squatted on Castro's land. When Castro's men ordered Hayward to leave, he asked Castro to buy a piece of land and used it to build a general store and later the famous Haywards Hotel.

In 1868, much of what was then called Hayward's was destroyed by the Hayward Quake as the Hayward Fault ran directly through the town. This 7.0 Magnitude earthquake was called the "great San Francisco earthquake" until 1906 when the city of San Francisco suffered one of the worst earthquakes ever recorded.

During the end of the 19th century, the Hayward Area was known as the Heart of the Garden of Eden thanks to its fertile soil, ideal climate, produce, flowers, and animals. The town was incorporated as Haywards in 1876, taking its name from its landmark hotel. It was several years later that the "s" was dropped from the name. By 1950, the town had a population of 14,000. Housing developments began to replace ranches and farms during this time and the population increased 5 times to 72,000 by 1960.