Artesia is the home of the East West Ice Palace, an ice rink which is co-owned by Michelle Kwan. It was also the childhood home (1914 until 1931) of former First Lady Pat Nixon, though the house in which she grew up is now part of neighboring Cerritos.
As of the census of 2000, there were 16,380 people, 4,470 households, and 3,625 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,903.9/km² (10,126.1/mi²). There were 4,598 housing units at an average density of 1,095.9/km² (2,842.5/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 44.18% White, 3.55% Black or African American, 0.78% Native American, 27.41% Asian, 0.54% Pacific Islander, 18.47% from other races, and 5.07% from two or more races. 38.29% of the population was Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 4,470 households out of which 40.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.4% were married couples living together, 14.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 18.9% were non-families. 15.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.54 and the average family size was 3.87.
In the city the population was spread out with 27.2% under the age of 18, 10.1% from 18 to 24, 29.4% from 25 to 44, 21.0% from 45 to 64, and 12.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 100.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.8 males.
The median income per household in the city was $44,500, and the median income per family was $47,017. Males had a median income of $34,447 versus $25,256 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,763. About 8.7% of families and 11.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.2% of those under age 18 and 7.4% of those age 65 or over.
45.8% of the residents of Artesia are foreign-born, and 25.2% are not US citizens.
For Europeans, 9.4% of Artesia is of Portuguese ancestry, with 49.4% of those foreign-born. Dutch is the second most commonly reported European ancestry at 4.6%. [5]
27.4% of Artesia is of Asian ancestry. The most commonly reported ancestries are Filipino 10.4%, Chinese 5.1%, Asian Indian 4.6%, and Korean 4.5%.
3.6% of Artesia is Black or African American. [6]
38.3% of Artesia is Hispanic or Latino, with most of those of Mexican descent (32.4%). [7]