Appleton is the largest principal city of the Appleton-Oshkosh-Neenah CSA, a Combined Statistical Area that includes the Appleton (Calumet and Outagamie counties) and Oshkosh-Neenah (Winnebago County) metropolitan areas, which had a combined population of 358,365 at the 2000 census.
As of the census of 2000, there were 70,087 people, 26,864 households, and 17,676 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,355.9 people per square mile (1,296.0/km²). There were 27,736 housing units at an average density of 1,328.0/sq mi (512.9/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 91.48% White, 0.99% African American, 0.57% Native American, 4.61% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 1.05% from other races, and 1.27% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.53% of the population.
There were 26,864 households out of which 35.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.9% were married couples living together, 8.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.2% were non-families. 27.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.52 and the average family size was 3.13.
In the city the population was spread out with 27.4% under the age of 18, 9.7% from 18 to 24, 31.8% from 25 to 44, 19.7% from 45 to 64, and 11.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 96.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.7 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $47,285, and the median income for a family was $57,097. Males had a median income of $40,459 versus $25,890 for females. The per capita income for the city was $22,478. About 3.3% of families and 5.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.1% of those under age 18 and 4.8% of those age 65 or over.
The city is a member of Valley Transit, a network of bus lines crisscrossing the Fox Valley.
Commercial air service is provided at Outagamie County Regional Airport.
The primary roads into the metro Appleton area are US-41 and US-10. US-41 runs north-south on the west side of the city, and turns east-west across the north side of the city. US-41 connects to Green Bay to the northeast and Oshkosh, Fond du Lac, and Milwaukee to the south. W-441 loops off US-41 across the south and east sides of the metro Appleton area. US-10 is an east-west highway that connects to Manitowoc to the east, and Stevens Point/Wausau to the west.
WIS-125 provides access from US-41 to downtown Appleton. Other secondary state highway into the Appleton metro area include WIS-47, WIS-96, WIS-15. Roads that route exclusively through suburbs of Appleton include US-45, WIS-55, WIS-114, and WIS-76.