West Covina

West Covina is a city in Los Angeles County, California, located 19 miles (31 km) east of Downtown Los Angeles in the eastern San Gabriel Valley and is part of Greater Los Angeles. The population for the city was 106,098 at the 2010 census.

West Covina was incorporated as an independent city in 1923 to prevent the city of Covina from building a sewage farm in the area. Walnut groves and orange groves continued to flourish during the subsequent decades. The population in 1930 was 769 and blossomed to 1,549 in 1940. As a result of remarkable expansion during the post World War II building boom, West Covina became one of the fastest-growing U.S. cities between 1950 and 1960, with the population increasing 1,000 per cent from less than 5,000 to more than 50,000 citizens. The decades between 1960 and 2000 demonstrated steady growth, which slowed significantly by the time of the 2010 census.

The City of West Covina began the second half of the 20th century with new developments and projects, mostly brought on by big business. The City Hall and police facility were built in 1969 as the first phase of an example of a Joint Powers Authority in the County of Los Angeles. The Civic Center Joint Powers Authority, consisting of the County of Los Angeles and the City of West Covina, also completed a three-level parking structure in the Civic Center complex. The Civic Center complex includes the Los Angeles County Regional Library and the Citrus Municipal Court building and the city offices.

The 2010 United States Census reported that West Covina had a population of 106,098. The population density was 6,594.3 people per square mile (2,546.1/km²). The racial makeup of West Covina was 42.8% White (15.3% Non-Hispanic White), 4.5% African American, 1.0% Native American, 25.8% Asian, 0.2% Pacific Islander, 21.3% from other races, and 4.4% from two or more races. Persons of Hispanic or Latino origin were 53.2%.

The Census reported that 105,424 people (99.4% of the population) lived in households, 351 (0.3%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 323 (0.3%) were institutionalized.

There were 31,596 households, out of which 13,670 (43.3%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 17,650 (55.9%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 5,402 (17.1%) had a female householder with no husband present, 2,308 (7.3%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 1,664 (5.3%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 202 (0.6%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 4,795 households (15.2%) were made up of individuals and 2,164 (6.8%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.34. There were 25,360 families (80.3% of all households); the average family size was 3.68.

The population was spread out with 26,075 people (24.6%) under the age of 18, 11,326 people (10.7%) aged 18 to 24, 28,860 people (27.2%) aged 25 to 44, 26,974 people (25.4%) aged 45 to 64, and 12,863 people (12.1%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36.0 years. For every 100 females there were 93.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.7 males.

There were 32,705 housing units at an average density of 2,032.7 per square mile (784.8/km²), of which 20,703 (65.5%) were owner-occupied, and 10,893 (34.5%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.1%; the rental vacancy rate was 4.8%. 70,474 people (66.4% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 34,950 people (32.9%) lived in rental housing units.

During 2009–2013, West Covina had a median household income of $67,088, with 10% of the population living below the federal poverty line.

In 2017, there were more than 10,000 Filipino Americans living in West Covina; they make up the majority population in the south side of the city.