Irvine is a large city located in the state of California. With a population of 314,621 people and 49 associated neighborhoods, Irvine is the 14th largest community in California. Irvine has seen a significant amount of newer housing growth in recent years. Quite often, new home construction is the result of new residents moving in who are middle class or wealthier, attracted by jobs, a healthy local economy, or other amenities as they leave nearby or far away areas for greener pastures. This seems to be the case in Irvine, where the median household income is $129,647.00.
Irvine home prices are not only among the most expensive in California, but Irvine real estate also consistently ranks among the most expensive in America.
Also of interest is that Irvine has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.
Of important note, Irvine is also a city of artists. Irvine has more artists, designers and people working in media than 90% of the communities in America. This concentration of artists helps shape Irvine’s character.
A relatively large number of people in Irvine telecommute to their jobs. Overall, about 25.93% of the workforce works from home. While this may seem like a small number, as a fraction of the total workforce it ranks among the highest in the country. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.
In addition, Irvine also has a very large population of students, making it a major college town. As often the case, having so many students around has a strong influence on the local culture. In fact, Irvine is one of only a few big cities that are also major college towns, making it one of the nation's prominent intellectual centers. In addition, the presence of thousands of college students gives Irvine a sophisticated style, and provides lots of diversions and entertainment for students. Being a big "college town" not only means that Irvine has a burgeoning arts, music, and nightclub scene, but the innovation sector of the local economy receives a great boost from both the intellectual output of the faculty and the thousands of enthusiastic students who graduate every spring.
This makes it a good place to live for young singles in their 20s and 30s and who have undergraduate or graduate degrees and are starting their professional careers. Although Irvine is a large city, this demographic is significant enough that young professionals will find many others like themselves here, with really good opportunities for friendships, recreation, romance, and more.
Do you have a 4-year college degree or graduate degree? If so, you may feel right at home in Irvine. 70.58% of adults here have a 4-year degree or graduate degree, whereas the national average for all cities and towns is just 21.84%.
The per capita income in Irvine in 2022 was $62,149, which is upper middle income relative to California, and wealthy relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $248,596 for a family of four. However, Irvine contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
Irvine is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Irvine home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Irvine residents report their race to be Asian, followed by White. Irvine also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 11.34% of the city’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Irvine include German, English, Irish, Iranian, and Italian.
In addition, Irvine has a lot of people living here who were born outside of the US (39.28%).
The most common language spoken in Irvine is English. Other important languages spoken here include Chinese and Spanish.