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Gonzales, California
City of Gonzales
Gonzales water tower
Gonzales water tower
Location of Gonzales in Monterey County, California.
Location of Gonzales in Monterey County, California.
Gonzales, California is located in the United States
Gonzales, California
Gonzales, California
Location in the United States
Country United States
State California
County Monterey
Incorporated January 14, 1947
Area
 • Total 1.91 sq mi (4.93 km2)
 • Land 1.87 sq mi (4.84 km2)
 • Water 0.04 sq mi (0.10 km2)  1.93%
Elevation
135 ft (41 m)
Population
 (2010)
 • Total 8,187
 • Estimate 
(2019)
8,306
 • Density 4,448.85/sq mi (1,717.75/km2)
Time zone UTC-8 (Pacific)
 • Summer (DST) UTC-7 (PDT)
ZIP code
93926
Area code 831
FIPS code 06-30392
GNIS feature ID 1659726

Gonzales is a city in Monterey County, California, United States. Gonzales is located 16 miles (26 km) southeast of Salinas, at an elevation of 135 feet (41 m). The population was 8,187 at the 2010 census, up from 7,525 at the 2000 census. Gonzales is a member of the Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments. Gonzales won the Culture of Health Prize from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in 2019.

Geography

Gonzales is located at 36°30′24″N 121°26′40″W / 36.50667°N 121.44444°W / 36.50667; -121.44444.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2.0 square miles (5.2 km2), of which, 1.9 square miles (4.9 km2) of it is land and 0.04 square miles (0.10 km2) of it (1.93%) is water.

Climate

This region experiences warm (but not hot) and dry summers, with no average monthly temperatures above 71.6 °F. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Gonzales has a hot-summer mediterranean climate, abbreviated "Csa" on climate maps. Summer daytime temperatures average around 35 °C (95 °F), but nights are cool year-round.

Climate data for Gonzales
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °F (°C) 86
(30)
86
(30)
93.0
(33.9)
100.0
(37.8)
106.0
(41.1)
111.9
(44.4)
116.1
(46.7)
115.0
(46.1)
114.1
(45.6)
116.1
(46.7)
93.9
(34.4)
90.0
(32.2)
116.1
(46.7)
Average high °F (°C) 61
(16)
63.0
(17.2)
66.0
(18.9)
71.8
(22.1)
79.7
(26.5)
88
(31)
95.5
(35.3)
94.8
(34.9)
90.7
(32.6)
81.0
(27.2)
69.4
(20.8)
61.9
(16.6)
76.9
(24.9)
Daily mean °F (°C) 46.8
(8.2)
49.1
(9.5)
51.4
(10.8)
55.2
(12.9)
61.2
(16.2)
67.3
(19.6)
72.9
(22.7)
72.3
(22.4)
69.4
(20.8)
61.9
(16.6)
53.2
(11.8)
47.7
(8.7)
59.0
(15.0)
Average low °F (°C) 32.7
(0.4)
35.2
(1.8)
36.7
(2.6)
38.8
(3.8)
43
(6)
46.6
(8.1)
50.4
(10.2)
49.8
(9.9)
48.4
(9.1)
43
(6)
37.0
(2.8)
33.4
(0.8)
41.2
(5.1)
Record low °F (°C) 10.0
(−12.2)
17.1
(−8.3)
18.0
(−7.8)
21.0
(−6.1)
26.1
(−3.3)
28.0
(−2.2)
35.1
(1.7)
30.9
(−0.6)
32.0
(0.0)
25.0
(−3.9)
15.1
(−9.4)
10.0
(−12.2)
10.0
(−12.2)
Average precipitation inches (mm) 3.3
(83)
3.1
(79)
2.9
(73)
1.3
(32)
0.4
(11)
0.1
(2)
0.0
(1)
0.0
(1)
0.2
(5)
0.7
(19)
1.7
(42)
2.8
(72)
16.5
(420)
Average precipitation days 9 9 9 5 2 1 0 0 1 3 6 9 54

History

Gonzales was originally a depot for freight trains once the Southern Pacific Railroad laid tracks through the valley in 1872.

The community was planned by Mariano and Alfredo Gonzales. The first Gonzales post office opened in 1873. The name honors the Gonzales family, owners of Rancho Rincon de la Puente del Monte, on which Gonzales was built. At that time, Gonzales was a cattle ranching and grain growers community.

Gonzales soon turned into a predominantly Swiss dairy community when John B. Meyenberg brought his original milk processing procedures to the United States. His company the Alpine Milk Company, later known as the Meyenberg Milk Company opened its first plant in Gonzales in 1906. Improvements to agriculture technology and the rich soil soon grew the Salinas Valley into the nation's premier agricultural center and all but one dairy farm disappeared.

Prior to being nicknamed the "Wine Capital of Monterey County," Gonzales was known as "The Heart of the Salad Bowl" (due to its central location in the agricultural valley). Before that it was nicknamed "Little Switzerland" (due to the similarities of the valley landscape to Switzerland as well as the predominantly Swiss community at the time).

Dairy farming gave way to vegetable raising in the 1920s and prospered due to the rich soil and advancements in irrigation, machinery and transportation facilities.

The first school house was built in 1874. The first church was the Gonzales Baptist Church, which was built in 1884 and still holds weekly worship services today.

The town was officially incorporated January 10, 1947.

Demographics

Historical population
Census Pop.
1880 233
1890 359 54.1%
1950 1,821
1960 2,138 17.4%
1970 2,575 20.4%
1980 2,891 12.3%
1990 4,660 61.2%
2000 7,525 61.5%
2010 8,187 8.8%
2019 (est.) 8,306 1.5%
U.S. Decennial Census

2010

At the 2010 census Gonzales had a population of 8,187. The population density was 4,178.5 people per square mile (1,613.3/km2). The racial makeup of Gonzales was 3,464 (42.3%) White, 81 (1.0%) African American, 124 (1.5%) Native American, 190 (2.3%) Asian, 14 (0.2%) Pacific Islander, 3,958 (48.3%) from other races, 356 (4.3%) from two or more races and 7,276 (88.9%) Hispanic or Latino of any race.

The census reported that 8,181 people (99.9% of the population) lived in households, 6 (0.1%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and no one was institutionalized.

There were 1,906 households, 1,252 (65.7%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 1,256 (65.9%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 309 (16.2%) had a female householder with no husband present, 139 (7.3%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 120 (6.3%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 11 (0.6%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 155 households (8.1%) were one person and 66 (3.5%) had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 4.29. There were 1,704 families (89.4% of households); the average family size was 4.45.

The age distribution was 2,856 people (34.9%) under the age of 18, 957 people (11.7%) aged 18 to 24, 2,355 people (28.8%) aged 25 to 44, 1,529 people (18.7%) aged 45 to 64, and 490 people (6.0%) who were 65 or older. The median age was 27.0 years. For every 100 females, there were 104.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 104.4 males.

There were 1,989 housing units at an average density of 1,015.2 per square mile, of the occupied units 1,019 (53.5%) were owner-occupied and 887 (46.5%) were rented. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.7%; the rental vacancy rate was 2.1%. 4,186 people (51.1% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 3,995 people (48.8%) lived in rental housing units.

2000

At the 2000 census there were 7,525 people in 1,695 households, including 1,501 families, in the city. The population density was 5,429.4 people per square mile (2,090.2/km2). There were 1,724 housing units at an average density of 1,243.9 per square mile (478.9/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 34.78% White, 0.80% Black or African American, 1.41% Native American, 2.05% Asian, 0.17% Pacific Islander, 55.99% from other races, and 4.81% from two or more races. 86.03% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. Of the 1,695 households 61.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 68.0% were married couples living together, 14.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 11.4% were non-families. 9.3% of households were one person and 4.0% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 4.42 and the average family size was 4.61.

The age distribution was 37.8% under the age of 18, 13.1% from 18 to 24, 30.7% from 25 to 44, 12.7% from 45 to 64, and 5.7% 65 or older. The median age was 24 years. For every 100 females, there were 108.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 109.3 males.

The median household income was $41,582 and the median family income was $41,773. Males had a median income of $31,743 versus $27,115 for females. The per capita income for the city was $12,438. About 15.0% of families and 20.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 26.6% of those under age 18 and 11.5% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

Largest employers

According to the City of Gonzales, the largest employers in the city are:

# Employer # of Employees
1 Taylor Farms 600
2 Gonzales Unified School District 283
3 Growers Express 200
4 Jackpot Harvesting 187
5 Constellation Brands 100
6 Silva Farms 100
7 Green Valley Farm Supply 75
8 Gonzales Packing Company 66
9 Ramsay Highlander 55

Notable people

  • John Blume, was born in Gonzales, the “Father of Earthquake Engineering.”
  • Honoré Escolle, purchased a 1,400 unsettled acres (570 ha) ranch two miles southwest from Gonzales.

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Gonzales (California) para niños

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