By Adam Hart
From humble beginnings as a simple farming community… today, San Jose is an influential, wealthy city and one of the world’s technology hubs (you will discover why below)! It is the largest city in Northern California and the tenth-largest city in the United States. It is located on the San Francisco Peninsula in Santa Clara County.
The population of San Jose is around 1 million, making it the third-most populous city in California, surpassed only by Los Angeles and San Diego.
San Jose is a diverse, cosmopolitan metropolis with a broad economic base. It has been called “the capital of Silicon Valley” due to its role as an innovation hub for technology manufacturing. That, coupled with its proximity to nature, has made it a destination for extreme weather events that plague other parts of California, such as wildfires and droughts.
Check out these fantastic 16 facts about San Jose below.
1) San Jose is the 3rd largest city in California.
2) San Jose was founded as a town on November 29, 1777. At the time, it was called Pueblo de San José de Guadalupe.
3) San Jose is a city in the South Bay, California.
4) As of 2021, the city has a population of over 1,013,240.
5) San Jose is the largest city in Northern California and the 10th in the United States. It has been called “the capital of Silicon Valley” due to its cultural influence.
6) The San Jose metropolitan area is among the most diverse and educated cities in the United States. It consists of thousands of residents from around the world. Its economy is centered on high technology, with numerous leading electronics, semiconductor, and other high-tech companies located in Santa Clara County, primarily in Cupertino and Sunnyvale.
7) In 2016, Forbes Magazine ranked San Jose among America’s most livable cities.
8) San Jose is a frequent host to huge sports events such as Super Bowl 50 (February 7, 2016) and WrestleMania 31 on March 29, 2015. In addition, it has hosted many other major sporting events throughout history.
9) The city is home to the San Jose Sharks of the NHL, the San Jose Barracuda of the AHL, the San Jose Earthquakes of Major League Soccer, and the San Jose State University Spartans football team.
10) San Jose is home to over 800 species of plants and trees.
11) San Jose is home to many tourist attractions such as California’s Great America, San Jose Flea Market and Fair, The Tech Museum of Innovation, Winchester Mystery House, Almaden Lake Park, San Jose Museum of Art, Raging Waters San Jose, Silicon Valley Sports Center and much more.
12) The city is also home to the most extensive public art collection in the United States. Rich people love art!
13) The city’s residents are known for their various ethnicities and cultures. It is considered a diverse and international city with many mixed cultures.
14) Like most of California’s major cities, the city has a very high cost of living. For example, the average price of a house is over 1 million dollars.
15) Per capita, the city is home to the largest population of millionaires and billionaires in the United States.
16) Some of the world’s largest tech headquarters are here, such as PayPal, eBay, Cisco Systems, Adobe Inc., Broadcom, Samsung, Acer, Zoom and Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HP).