Chino and its surroundings have long been a center of agriculture and dairy farming, serving the considerable demands for milk products in Southern California and much of the southwestern United States. Chino’s rich agricultural history dates back to the Spanish land grant forming Rancho Santa Ana del Chino. The area specialized in orchard, row crops and dairy. Downtown Chino is home to satellite branches of the San Bernardino County Library and Chaffey Community College, the Chino Community Theatre, the Chino Boxing Club and a weekly Farmer's Market. In 2008 the City of Chino was awarded the prestigious "100 Best Communities for Youth" award for the second time in three years. Chino hosted shooting events for the 1984 Summer Olympics at the Prado Olympic Shooting Park in the Prado Regional Park. Two California state prisons for adults (California Institution for Men and California Institution for Women), as well as the Heman G. Stark Youth Correctional Facility, lie within the city limits.
Beginning in the 1970s, it developed into a small suburban city, forming the western anchor of the Inland Empire region, and now the city's development has gradually taken on a more middle-class character. There are still many industrial areas as well as farm animals such as goats and chickens. According to the 2004 FBI UCR, the city had about 3.6 violent crimes per 1,000 population, which is typical for an American suburb, and its property crime was actually below average.
As of the census of 2000, there were 67,168 people, 17,304 households, and 14,102 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,232.0/km² (3,190.5/mi²). There were 17,898 housing units at an average density of 328.3/km² (850.2/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 55.70% White, 7.82% African American, 0.93% Native American, 4.92% Asian, 0.21% Pacific Islander, 25.56% from other races, and 4.86% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 47.39% of the population.
There were 17,304 households out of which 47.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.5% were married couples living together, 12.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 18.5% were non-families. 14.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 5.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.43 and the average family size was 3.77.
In the city the population was spread out with 28.5% under the age of 18, 12.3% from 18 to 24, 34.2% from 25 to 44, 19.2% from 45 to 64, and 5.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females there were 124.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 133.1 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $55,401, and the median income for a family was $59,638. Males had a median income of $35,855 versus $30,267 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,574. About 6.3% of families and 8.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.0% of those under age 18 and 8.5% of those age 65 or over.