San Jose was founded on November 29, 1777 as El Pueblo de San José de Guadalupe, the first town in the Spanish colony of Nueva California, which later became Alta California. The city served as a farming community to support Spanish military installations at San Francisco and Monterey. When California gained statehood in 1850, San Jose served as its first capital. After more than 150 years as an agricultural center, San Jose experienced increased demand for housing from soldiers and other veterans returning from World War II, as well as aggressive expansion during the 1950s and 1960s by annexing more land area. By the 1990s, San Jose's location within the booming local technology industry earned the city the nickname Capital of Silicon Valley.
As of the census of 2000, there were 894,943 people, 276,598 households, and 203,576 families residing in the city, with a 2007 estimated poplation of 939,899.
The population density was 5,117.9 people per square mile (1,976.1/km²). There were 281,841 housing units at an average density of 1,611.8 per square mile (622.3/km²). Of the 276,598 households, 38.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.0% were married couples living together, 11.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.4% were non-families. 18.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 4.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.20 and the average family size was 3.62.
In the city the population was spread out with 26.4% under the age of 18, 9.9% from 18 to 24, 35.4% from 25 to 44, 20.0% from 45 to 64, and 8.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 103.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 102.5 males.
According to a 2007 estimate, the median income for a household in the city was the highest in the US for any city with more than a quarter million residents with $76,963 annually. The median income for a family was $86,822. Males had a median income of $49,347 versus $36,936 for females. The per capita income for the city was $26,697. About 6.0% of families and 8.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.3% of those under age 18 and 7.4% of those age 65 or over.
At the 2007 U.S. Census estimates, the city's population was:
According to the United States Census Bureau, San Jose's population on January 1, 2007 was 939,899, third in the state behind Los Angeles and San Diego. The estimate indicated a growth of 1.6 percent from the previous year. According to United States Census Bureau estimates, as of July 1, 2008, San Jose had a population of 939,899, making it the tenth most populous city in the United States.
San Jose has a very diverse religious life with thousands of churches, mosques, temples, and religious centers. San Jose and the rest of the San Francisco Bay Area is home to many Christian congregations (including large, Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches, Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses) alongside centers of Jewish, Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist and Sikh faiths among numerous other religious communities.
When it comes to dealing with such a diverse demographic, San Jose has a relatively easy situation with race relations. A high percentage of foreign-born live in the city, including many high-tech workers from East and South Asia. The people from these countries have settled in the city and across the Santa Clara Valley during the last three decades. Many Central American, Southeast Asian and Eastern European immigrants have lived in San Jose since the late 1970s and early 1980s. A large, multi-generational Hispanic barrio is in the Alum Rock district. Many Chinese Americans and Japanese Americans thrive downtown on the streets of Guadalupe and Almaden.
San Jose has the distinction of being the U.S. city with the largest Vietnamese American population, with about 9% of the city population identifying as Vietnamese according to the 2000 census. Municipal signs and brochures are sometimes displayed in Vietnamese language in addition to English and Spanish. In an effort to cater to this demographic, the San Jose Mercury News published a Vietnamese-language newspaper from 1999–2005 called Viet Mercury.
The San Jose area has a freeway system, including three Interstate freeways—I-280, I-880, and I-680—in addition to several state and one US Highway, US 101, SR 85, SR 87, SR 17, and SR 237. It is, however, the largest city in the country not served by a primary, "two-digit" interstate. Additionally, San Jose contains many expressways of the Santa Clara County Expressway System, including the Almaden Expressway, Capitol Expressway, San Tomas Expressway, and Lawrence Expressway.
Rail service to and within San Jose is provided by Amtrak (the Sacramento-San Jose Capitol Corridor and the Seattle-Los Angeles Coast Starlight), Caltrain (commuter rail service between San Francisco and Gilroy), ACE (commuter rail service to Pleasanton and Stockton), and a local light-rail system connecting downtown to Mountain View, Milpitas, Campbell, and Almaden Valley, operated by the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA). Historic streetcars from the San Jose History Museum operate on the light rail lines in downtown during holidays. Long-term plans call for BART to be expanded into the San Jose area via the East Bay. Diridon Station (formerly Cahill Depot, 65 Cahill Street) is the meeting point of all regional commuter rail service in the area. It was built in 1935 by the Southern Pacific Railroad, and was refurbished in 1994.
VTA also operates many bus routes in San Jose and the surrounding communities, as well as offering paratransit services to local residents. Additionally, the Highway 17 Express bus line connects central San Jose with Santa Cruz.
San Jose is served by Norman Y. Mineta San José International Airport, two miles (3 km) northwest of downtown, and by Reid-Hillview Airport of Santa Clara County. San Jose residents also use San Francisco International Airport, a major international hub located 35 miles (56 km) to the northwest, and Oakland International Airport, another major international airport located 35 miles (56 km) to the north.