With its upscale neighborhoods to attract the affluent, Irvine, California is a planned city built around a university campus. Here is some information for those with designs on relocating to Irvine.

Located in Orange County, Irvine is included in the Los Angeles-Long Beach metro area. Built on 46 square miles of land, the city was developed in the 1960s by the Irvine Company. Each village within Irvine reflects its own style ranging from the Tuscan to Spanish themes. This young and attractive community is growing fast and annexing outlying communities in the process. The city is well on its way to doubling its 1990 population of 111,734 people. Estimates from the California Department of Finances in 2006 find 193,785 citizens living in the city. The U.S. Census of 2000 showed Irvine having the seventh largest Asian population among major U.S. communities. Several Asian races made up nearly 30% of the population. 57% of residents were White non-Hispanic. The Black population at 1.4% is significantly below the state average. The number of foreign-born residents is significantly high at 32.1% of the population (24.3% Asian).

If you are relocating to Irvine, you can plan on a safe place to live. FBI crime statistics rank Irvine as the safest of all major cities for violent crime. Since the city is relatively new, the resident age is 33 years, over three years below the national average. That could be due to the location of several major colleges in the area. The University of California-Irvine and its full-time enrollment of 19,533 live at the heart of the city. Among several other higher education institutions, California State University-Fullerton is just a few miles away touting an enrollment of 22,345 students. A lot of smart eggs live in Irvine, too. 58% of residents 25 and older hold a bachelor's or advanced college degree. Statistically speaking, census demographics reveal the city as one of the most educated areas of the country. 95.3% of residents in 2000 were high school graduates.

For someone relocating to Irvine as a homeowner, there may be a hefty mortgage bill to pay. Housing debts on mortgages averaged $1,897 monthly, the eighth highest for U.S. communities with at least 100,000 people. Average house values had risen well over $300,000 by 2000, nearly triple the national median of $111,800. Renters also have the distinction of paying through the nose for housing. In 2006, the median gross rent paid in the area was $1,660 a month, the highest of any major U.S. city. These high costs have been a hot topic for the Irvine city council, as they seek to secure income-subsidized housing for the working class.

Big paychecks help offset the high cost of living for residents of Irvine. Median household income in 2000 was $72,057, more than $30,000 above the national average. The average family income was approaching $100,000 annually. Per capita income favored Irvine by over $10,000 above the U.S. mean. Poverty and unemployment do not pose a problem. Statistically, about nine percent of the population lived below the poverty level. That figure may be skewed with the many college students who live in the city. Finding work should not be a difficult task with a diversified market that includes high tech jobs. Unemployment rates tend to hover around five percent. It’s estimated over 100,000 people daily find their way into the city to work. Just 39% of Irvine’s residents are employed in the city:

Irvine, like most California cities, enjoys moderate weather. Fifty-six degrees is the average temperature in winter, 71 degrees in summer. And not a lot of rain with an average in the range of 10 to 13 inches annually. Tornado activity in the Irvine-area is significantly above California’s average. However, it is 77% less than the national average. Irvine has had brushes with two category two tornadoes since 1966.

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