Tulare ( ) is a city in Tulare County, California, United States. The population was 68,875 per the 2020 census. It is located in the heart of the San Joaquin Valley, south of Visalia and north of Bakersfield. The city is named after the Tulare Lake, once the largest freshwater lake west of the Great Lakes.
Etymology
The English name Tulare derives ultimately from Classical Nahuatl tōllin, "sedge" or "reeds", by way of Spanish tule, which also exists in English as a loanword. The name is cognate with Tula, Tultepec, and Tultitlán de Mariano Escobedo.
History
The Yokuts peopleResources built reed boats and fished in what was later to be called Tulare Lake in their homeland for centuries, until the invasion and settlement by the Spanish and American pioneers. When California became a state in 1850, Tulare did not yet exist as a town. Tulare was founded in 1872, by the Southern Pacific Railroad. Tule is the town's namesake.
Transportation was the first impetus behind the establishment of the town. The town burnt down and being rebuilt three times in its first fourteen years. Tulare was incorporated in 1888.
In 1891, the railroad went to Bakersfield. Although the railroad was gone, the community of Tulare struggled to become an agricultural center for California, which it is today. Due to the of rainfall, water resources had to be found. To bring water to Tulare, citizens established the Tulare Irrigation District and issued $500,000 in bonds to build an extensive canal system carrying water from the Sierra Nevada. In 1903, when the bonds were paid off early, they celebrated by having a bond-burning celebration.
In 1912, Hulett C. Merritt founded Tagus Ranch, which at was the largest fruit ranch in the world. Until its close, Tagus Ranch produce was known the world over, and was served in the finest restaurants throughout America. At the end of World War II, a portion of Tagus Ranch served as a German POW camp.
The cotton strike of 1933 was planned in Tulare by a group of seventy-eight men and women. As recorded by Chicano historian Rodolfo Acuña, "they concluded that it took the average picker 10 hours to harvest 300 pounds. Planters offered 40 cents a hundredweight – that was not enough to buy enough food and gas to get to the next job."
In 1940, famed aerobatic stunt pilot J.G. "Tex" Rankin secured a U.S. War Department contract to open and operate a civilian flying school to train United States Army Air Corps flight cadets. Rankin opened the Rankin Aeronautical Academy in Tulare in February 1941, where it operated throughout the duration of World War II. During its heyday Rankin Field, as it was otherwise known, trained 10,000 pilots in primary flight training, including twelve future Army Air Corps Aces and two Medal of Honor recipients.
During World War II, in response to the Attack on Pearl Harbor and the West Coast wartime hysteria, the U.S. Army temporarily assumed control of the Tulare County Fairgrounds, converting it to the Tulare Assembly Center, a temporary detention center for Japanese Americans. The Assembly Center was administered by the Wartime Civil Control Administration, under the Western Defense Command and the U.S. 4th Army. The first internee was inducted on April 27, 1942, and the last internee departed on September 4, 1942. The top population numbered 4,978 residents, many of whom were citizens born in the United States. In the latter part of 1942, internees began being moved to the ten more permanent "War Relocation Camps". The majority of internees from the Tulare Assembly Center were sent to the Gila River War Relocation Center in Arizona. These temporary sites were largely located on fairgrounds or race tracks in completely public and visible locations.Linke, Konrad. "Tulare (detention facility)" Densho Encyclopedia. Retrieved June 20, 2014.
Tulare was the site of the National Championships for the Decathlon in Track and Field in 1949, 1950, 1952, and 1962, as well as the Olympic Trials for the Decathlon in 1952.
Geography Tulare is located at (36.206601, −119.342404). Located directly between Fresno and Bakersfield, Tulare is in the heart of the Central Valley. Although the foothills of the Sierra Nevada are only about 20 miles east of town, they are seldom visible due to the chronically poor air quality and very high levels of airborne particulate matter, soot, and other pollution.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and (0.37%) is water.
Climate The climate of this agricultural community is steady, with cool and damp winters with a mean temperature of 45 degrees, but very hot dry summers, with a mean temperatures of 95 to 110 degrees for about ten months out of the year. And very brief spring and fall. Winter transitions to summer very quickly and vice versa. The mean average rainfall was 10 inches prior to the drought that began in 2012 but since receives only about 2-3 inches due to climate change and the fact that Tulare is in a rain shadow. Tulare consistently suffers from year round air pollution and air quality that is among the worst in the United States because of both geographic conditions (hemmed in valley, weak winds) and the prevalence of diesel fuel exhaust from farming and truck traffic on Highway 99. Farming also exacerbates this because it kicks up tremendous amounts of dust, especially in the late summer and autumn months.
Demographics
2020 census As of the 2020 census, Tulare had a population of 68,875. The population density was . The median age was 31.1 years. 30.7% of residents were under the age of 18, 10.4% were aged 18 to 24, 27.4% were aged 25 to 44, 20.8% were aged 45 to 64, and 10.7% were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females, there were 96.9 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.2 males age 18 and over.
+ Racial composition as of the 2020 census Race Number Percent White 28,211 41.0% Black or African American 2,084 3.0% American Indian and Alaska Native 1,301 1.9% Asian 1,715 2.5% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 96 0.1% Some other race 21,913 31.8% Two or more races 13,555 19.7% Hispanic or Latino (of any race) 43,617 63.3%
The census reported that 98.4% of the population lived in households, 1.3% lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0.3% were institutionalized. 99.5% of residents lived in urban areas, while 0.5% lived in rural areas.
There were 20,406 households, of which 47.7% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 50.6% were married-couple households, 9.1% were cohabiting-couple households, 15.3% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 25.0% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 15.6% of households were one person, and 7.1% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 3.32. There were 16,193 families (79.4% of all households).
There were 21,153 housing units at an average density of , of which 3.5% were vacant. Of the occupied units, 58.8% were owner-occupied and 41.2% were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 0.9% and the rental vacancy rate was 4.3%.
2023 ACS estimates In 2023, the US Census Bureau estimated that 18.5% of the population were foreign-born. Of all people aged 5 or older, 53.6% spoke only English at home, 40.1% spoke Spanish, 3.3% spoke other Indo-European languages, 2.1% spoke Asian or Pacific Islander languages, and 1.0% spoke other languages. Of those aged 25 or older, 76.5% were high school graduates and 10.7% had a bachelor's degree.
The median household income in 2023 was $69,517, and the per capita income was $26,459. About 15.8% of families and 18.0% of the population were below the poverty line.
2010 census At the 2010 census Tulare had a population of 59,278. The population density was . The racial makeup of Tulare was 36,347 (61.3%) White, 2,328 (3.9%) African American, 694 (1.2%) Native American, 1,276 (2.2%) Asian, 80 (0.1%) Pacific Islander, 15,713 (26.5%) from other races, and 2,840 (4.8%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 34,062 persons (57.5%).
The census reported that 59,000 people (99.5% of the population) lived in households, 62 (0.1%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 216 (0.4%) were institutionalized.
There were 17,720 households, 8,991 (50.7%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 9,373 (52.9%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 3,190 (18.0%) had a female householder with no husband present, 1,507 (8.5%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 1,543 (8.7%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 120 (0.7%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 2,862 households (16.2%) were one person and 1,249 (7.0%) had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 3.33. There were 14,070 families (79.4% of households); the average family size was 3.68.
The age distribution was 19,757 people (33.3%) under the age of 18, 6,229 people (10.5%) aged 18 to 24, 16,247 people (27.4%) aged 25 to 44, 11,707 people (19.7%) aged 45 to 64, and 5,338 people (9.0%) who were 65 or older. The median age was 29.1 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.9 males.
There were 18,863 housing units at an average density of 897.5 per square mile, of the occupied units 10,389 (58.6%) were owner-occupied and 7,331 (41.4%) were rented. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.8%; the rental vacancy rate was 5.5%. 33,367 people (56.3% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 25,633 people (43.2%) lived in rental housing units.
Culture There is a large population of Portuguese residents in Tulare, many of whom immigrated from the Azores to start farms and dairies in the Central Valley, becoming part of the now famous Central Valley agricultural boom of the 20th century. Economy Largest employers According to the city's 2023 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, the top employers in the city are:
# Employer Employees1Saputo Cheese USA, Inc.1,1252Tulare City School District1,1003Tulare Joint Union High School District6674Land O'Lakes4865City of Tulare3816Adventist Health Hospital3557Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream3508Lactalis Heritage Dairy2509Walmart21210Twin Oaks Rehabilitation and Nursing Center189 The backbone of Tulare's economy continues to be its agricultural and dairy industry. Tulare is responsible for a significant part of Tulare County's 342,600 dairy cows, which produce more than 8.9 billion pounds of milk each year. The nation's largest single-site dairy complex, operated by Land O'Lakes, is located in Tulare.
Despite the value of the agriculture industry, Tulare is still considered an economically distressed area and has unemployment and poverty rates that are substantially higher than the state averages since the local economy is not diversified.
Tulare is the home of the Tulare County Fair, held since 1915. Tulare is also home to the internationally known World Ag Expo, held annually each February since 1968 at the International Agri-Center. The three-day event is the largest annual outdoor agricultural exposition in the United States and considered one of the largest of its kind in the world, with over 100,000 visitors and over 1,200 exhibitors.
Government Local government The Mayor and Vice-Mayor are selected by the council for two-year terms. Mayor: Patrick Isherwood Vice-mayor: Stephen C. Harrell
List of mayors This is a list of Tulare mayors by year.