State
County
Land Area
22.0 sq mi
Density
6,922.2/sq mi
2020 Growth Rate
-0.07%
Growth Since 2010
8.86%
Rank in State
Rank in Country
Metro Population
1,984,370
Sunnyvale is a city located in California. With a 2020 population of 152,495, it is the 36th largest city in California and the 172nd largest city in the United States. Sunnyvale is currently declining at a rate of -0.07% annually but its population has increased by 8.86% since the most recent census, which recorded a population of 140,081 in 2010. Sunnyvale reached it's highest population of 153,544 in 2016. Spanning over 23 miles, Sunnyvale has a population density of 6,922 people per square mile.
The average household income in Sunnyvale is $179,798 with a poverty rate of 5.49%. The median rental costs in recent years comes to $2,508 per month, and the median house value is $1.22 Mn. The median age in Sunnyvale is 35.3 years, 34.8 years for males, and 36.2 years for females. For every 100 females there are 107.9 males.
Sunnyvale is the seventh most populous city in the Bay Area of San Francisco, California. It's also the 4th largest city in Silicon Valley behind San Jose, Fremont, and Hayward. Sunnyvale is bordered by San Jose to the north, Los Altos to the southwest, and Santa Clara to the east. As part of Silicon Valley, Sunnyvale is home to the headquarters of many tech companies and several aerospace and defense companies.
Interestingly, Sunnyvale is also one of the few cities in the United States to feature a single unified Department of Public Safety, exclusively comprising personnel who are trained as firefighters, police officers, and emergency medical responders.
About 47% of Sunnyvale's population is foreign-born, one of the country's highest foreign-born populations. Sunnyvale has an Asian-majority population. In the 1880s, Chinese workers made up roughly one-third of the farming workforce. The Asian Indian population is Sunnyvale's fastest growing group and will soon overtake the Vietnamese as the second-largest Asian population in Silicon Valley after the Chinese.
In 1920, 8 years after officially becoming a city, Sunnyvale had a population of just 1675 people. The 1950s brought a huge boom with an 18% population growth, bringing the population from 9,829 in 1950 to 52,898 in 1960.
Sunnyvale has continued year after year to rank as one of the top ten safest cities of its size in the U.S. 2018 saw SmartAsset name Sunnyvale the third safest city in the country for the third consecutive year. The city continues its modest population growth that is still behind most of California.
Upon the arrival of the Spanish in the 1770s at the Santa Clara Valley, Native Americans heavily populated the area. With the Spanish, however, came smallpox, measles, and other diseases new to the natives which greatly reduced their population. The region was under Mexican rule in the 1840s when a land grant was provided to Lupe Yñigo, one of the only Native Americans to hold a grant. By 1850, California was granted statehood in the United State.
In 1901, Sunnyvale was named in honor of its sunny region away from the fog of neighboring areas. Within a few years, Sunnyvale had its first fruit-packing factory. Today, California is the world’s largest producer of dried fruit. During WWII, however, the fruit industry started to give way to the high tech industry as workers from the fruit farms moved over to work in munitions factories.
Post-war, the farms were cleared to make way for new homes, factories and offices. Lockheed moved to Sunnyvale, and following them came numerous other high-tech companies, including AMD and Yahoo. By 2002, most remaining orchards were gone, replaced with homes and shops.
According to the most recent ACS, the racial composition of Sunnyvale was:
2019 and 2020 population is estimated by projecting the raw 2018 numbers.
Year | Total Population | Growth | Annual Growth Rate |
---|---|---|---|
2021 | 1,984,370 | -3,150 | -0.16% |
2020 | 1,987,520 | -3,140 | -0.16% |
2019 | 1,990,660 | -3,140 | -0.16% |
2018 | 1,993,800 | 1,130 | 0.06% |
2017 | 1,992,670 | 5,080 | 0.25% |
2016 | 1,987,590 | 13,090 | 0.66% |
2015 | 1,974,500 | 24,920 | 1.26% |
2014 | 1,949,580 | 25,920 | 1.33% |
2013 | 1,923,660 | 29,210 | 1.52% |
2012 | 1,894,450 | 26,420 | 1.39% |
2011 | 1,868,030 | 26,470 | 1.42% |
2010 | 1,841,560 | 0.00% |
Race | Population | Percentage |
---|---|---|
Asian | 71,312 | 46.68% |
White | 60,835 | 39.82% |
Some Other Race | 9,445 | 6.18% |
Two or More Races | 7,518 | 4.92% |
Black or African American | 2,446 | 1.60% |
American Indian and Alaska Native | 812 | 0.53% |
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander | 402 | 0.26% |
Type | Count | Average Size | Owned |
---|---|---|---|
All | 56,103 | 2.71 | 45.4 |
Married | 32,190 | 3.23 | 52.3 |
Non Family | 18,126 | 1.54 | 34.2 |
Female | 3,574 | 3.3 | 44.9 |
Male | 2,213 | 3.62 | 36.3 |
3.17
Average Family Size
2.71
Average Household Size
Education Attained | Count | Percentage |
---|---|---|
Less Than 9th Grade | 4,161 | 3.73% |
9th to 12th Grade | 4,141 | 3.71% |
High School Graduate | 11,129 | 9.98% |
Some College | 12,735 | 11.42% |
Associates Degree | 6,791 | 6.09% |
Bachelors Degree | 34,204 | 30.67% |
Graduate Degree | 38,378 | 34.41% |
Name | Total | High School | Bachelors |
---|---|---|---|
Asian | 54,391 | 52,053 | 42,593 |
White | 36,923 | 36,150 | 23,915 |
Hispanic | 15,179 | 10,336 | 3,235 |
Other Race | 5,896 | 3,651 | 1,170 |
Multiple Races | 2,911 | 2,862 | 1,916 |
Black | 1,895 | 1,581 | 782 |
Native American | 524 | 375 | 112 |
Islander | 238 | 236 | 24 |
The highest rate of high school graduation is among islander people with a rate of 99.16%.
The highest rate of bachelors degrees is among asian people with a rate of 78.31%.
$87,128
Average Earnings
$105,130
Average Male
$64,387
Average Female
41.93% of Sunnyvale residents speak only English, while 58.07% speak other languages. The non-English language spoken by the largest group is Asian and Pacific Island languages, which is spoken by 29.32% of the population.
Name | Total | In Poverty | Poverty Rate |
---|---|---|---|
Asian | 71,199 | 3,748 | 5.26% |
White | 46,610 | 2,106 | 4.52% |
Hispanic | 24,923 | 1,929 | 7.74% |
Other | 9,304 | 762 | 8.19% |
Multiple | 7,498 | 553 | 7.38% |
Black | 2,413 | 170 | 7.05% |
Islander | 402 | 29 | 7.21% |
Native | 812 | 10 | 1.23% |
5.49%
Overall Poverty Rate
4.64%
Male Poverty Rate
6.40%
Female Poverty Rate
The race most likely to be in poverty in Sunnyvale is Other, with 8.19% below the poverty level.
The race least likely to be in poverty in Sunnyvale is Native, with 1.23% below the poverty level.
The poverty rate among those that worked full-time for the past 12 months was 0.87%. Among those working part-time, it was 9.49%, and for those that did not work, the poverty rate was 13.05%.
58.1%
Overall Marriage Rate
56.8%
Male Marriage Rate
59.6%
Female Marriage Rate
The age group where males are most likely to be married is 35-44, while the female age group most likely to be married is 35-44.
Name | Veterans | % of Total |
---|---|---|
White | 2,735 | 5.52% |
Asian | 763 | 1.33% |
Hispanic | 393 | 2.21% |
Black | 113 | 5.38% |
2 or More | 66 | 1.75% |
Other | 53 | 0.78% |
Hawaiian | 35 | 14.71% |
Indian | 25 | 4.04% |
5.70%
Veteran Poverty Rate
27.28%
Veteran Disability Rate
71.4%
Labor Force Participation
68.6%
Employment Rate
4%
Unemployment Rate
Non citizens include legal permanent residents (green card holders), international students, temporary workers, humanitarian migrants, and illegal immigrants.
51.37%
Native Born
48.63%
Foreign Born
30.41%
Non Citizen
18.23%
Naturalized
51.37% of Sunnyvale residents were born in the United States, with 34.42% having been born in California. 30.41% of residents are not US citizens. Of those not born in the United States, the largest percentage are from Asia.
Year | Population | Growth | Annual Growth Rate |
---|---|---|---|
2021 | 152,495 | -104 | -0.07% |
2020 | 152,599 | -104 | -0.07% |
2019 | 152,703 | -104 | -0.07% |
2018 | 152,807 | -410 | -0.27% |
2017 | 153,217 | -327 | -0.21% |
2016 | 153,544 | 1,914 | 1.26% |
2015 | 151,630 | 1,861 | 1.24% |
2014 | 149,769 | 1,714 | 1.16% |
2013 | 148,055 | 1,619 | 1.11% |
2012 | 146,436 | 2,631 | 1.83% |
2011 | 143,805 | 3,343 | 2.38% |
2010 | 140,462 | 8,702 | 0.64% |
2000 | 131,760 | 14,531 | 1.18% |
1990 | 117,229 | 10,611 | 0.95% |
1980 | 106,618 | 10,642 | 1.06% |
1970 | 95,976 | 43,078 | 6.14% |
1960 | 52,898 | 43,069 | 18.33% |
1950 | 9,829 | 5,456 | 8.44% |
1940 | 4,373 | 1,279 | 3.52% |
1930 | 3,094 | 1,419 | 6.33% |
1920 | 1,675 | 0.00% |