Burbank is located in the eastern region of the San Fernando Valley, 12 miles (19 km) north of Downtown Los Angeles.
Billed as the "Media Capital of the World," many media and entertainment companies are headquartered or have significant production facilities in Burbank, including Warner Bros. Entertainment, NBC Universal, The Walt Disney Company, Viacom, and PBS.
At one time it was referred to as "Beautiful Downtown Burbank" on Laugh-In and The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.
The city was named after David Burbank, a New Hampshire-born dentist and entrepreneur.
Burbank experienced an 8% increase in population between 2000 and 2007, bringing its total population in 2007 to 107,921. Population growth was influenced by Burbank's expanding employment base, high quality public schools, and access to regional transportation routes and metropolitan Los Angeles. According to the Southern California Association of Government's 2007 Regional Transportation Plan growth forecasts, the population of Burbank is expected to grow to approximately 116,500 by 2015 and 125,000 by 2025, a 15% increase over the 18-year period.
While white residents continue to comprise the majority of Burbank's population, this proportion has decreased substantially from almost 80% in 1980 to approximately 60 percent in 2000. In contrast, the share of Hispanic residents increased steadily over the past two decades, growing from 16% in 1980 to 25% in 2000. Although Asian residents represent a relatively smaller segment of the population, the share of Asian residents more than tripled since 1980, increasing from 3% in 1980 to 9% in 2000. The black population remained relatively limited, rising from less than 1% in 1980 to almost 2% in 2000.
As of the census of 2000, there were 100,316 people, 41,608 households, and 24,382 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,232.4/km² (5,782.4/mi²). There were 42,847 housing units at an average density of 953.5/km² (2,469.8/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 72.18% White, 2.06% Black or African American, 0.55% Native American, 9.15% Asian, 0.14% Pacific Islander, 9.88% from other races, and 6.04% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 24.87% of the population.
There were 41,608 households out of which 28.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.8% were married couples living together, 11.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.4% were non-families. 33.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.39 and the average family size was 3.14.
In the city the population was spread out with 22.3% under the age of 18, 7.7% from 18 to 24, 35.4% from 25 to 44, 21.8% from 45 to 64, and 12.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 94.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.7 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $62,347, and the median income for a family was $67,767. Males had a median income of $41,792 versus $35,273 for females. The per capita income for the city was $25,713. About 8.1% of families and 10.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.3% of those under age 18 and 9.0% of those age 65 or over.