Moraga, California | |
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 Location inContra Costa County and the state of California | |
  Moraga, California Location in the United States | |
| Coordinates:37°50′06″N122°07′47″W / 37.83500°N 122.12972°W /37.83500; -122.12972 | |
| Country |  United States |
| State |  California |
| County | Contra Costa |
| Incorporated | November 13, 1974[1] |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Steve Woehleke[2] |
| • State Senator | Tim Grayson (D)[3] |
| • State Assembly | Rebecca Bauer-Kahan (D)[4] |
| • U. S. Congress | Mark DeSaulnier (D)[5] |
| Area | |
• Total | 9.47 sq mi (24.53 km2) |
| • Land | 9.46 sq mi (24.50 km2) |
| • Water | 0.0077 sq mi (0.02 km2) 0.09% |
| Elevation | 499 ft (152 m) |
| Population | |
• Total | 16,870 |
| • Density | 1,783/sq mi (688.6/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC-8 (PST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-7 (PDT) |
| ZIP codes | 94556, 94570, 94575 |
| Area code | 925 |
| FIPS code | 06-49187 (formerly 06-49194) |
| GNIS feature IDs | 1659171,2413013 |
| Website | www |
Moraga is atown inContra Costa County, California, United States. Located in theSan Francisco Bay Area, the town is named in honor ofJoaquín Moraga, member of the famedCalifornio family. As of 2020, Moraga had a total population of 16,870 people. Moraga is the home ofSaint Mary's College of California.
The land now called Moraga was first inhabited by theSaklan people, who belonged to theBay Miwok language group.[8]
Joaquin Moraga was the grandson ofJosé Joaquín Moraga, builder of thePresidio of San Francisco and founder of the pueblo that grew into the city ofSan Jose. Joaquin's fatherGabriel Moraga was also a soldier, and an early explorer who named many of the state's rivers, including theSacramento andSan Joaquin.
Moraga is located on the 1835 Mexican Land GrantRancho Laguna de los Palos Colorados given to Joaquin Moraga and his cousin, Juan Bernal. Part of that grant was the property today known as Moraga Ranch. TheMoraga Adobe has been preserved and is located in neighboringOrinda. Joaquin Moraga Intermediate School, a middle school in Moraga, bears his name.
In the first half of the 20th century, the line of theSacramento Northern Railroad ran through Moraga; much of the old right-of-way is now part of theLafayette-Moraga Regional Trail.
Moraga's first post office opened in 1886, and was closed in 1887; it reopened in 1915.[9] In 1955, Moraga built a new post office.Saint Mary's College of California moved to Moraga in 1928.Moraga incorporated in 1974, when the communities ofMoraga Town,Rheem, andRheem Valley, united into one town.[10]
In June 2017, Moraga declared a fiscal emergency because asinkhole in the downtown area and a failed bridge on Canyon Road were expected to cost $5 million to repair.[11]
Moraga is located adjacent to the cities ofLafayette andOrinda, as well as theunincorporated community ofCanyon. Other nearby cities includeWalnut Creek,Oakland,San Francisco,Concord andBerkeley.
According to theUnited States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 9.5 square miles (24.5 km2), of which 99.91% is land and 0.09% is water.[6] Moraga is in a valley surrounded by rolling hills. Large sections of theLafayette-Moraga Regional Trail pass through the town.
Moraga has aMediterranean climate, with warm, dry summers and cool, wet winters. In the summer, morning fog is a common occurrence, but it usually burns off by the late morning or early afternoon, giving way to clear skies the rest of the day. Most of the annual rainfall comes during the winter; snow is very rare, but occasional light dustings have been seen. Over the course of a year, the town averages 26 days of 90 °F (32 °C) or higher, 40 nights of 32 °F (0 °C) or lower, and 59 days with rain. In 2014, the southwestern US was plagued by a serious drought. Moraga was badly burdened, with high fire warnings.[12]
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| Climate data for Moraga, California (Saint Mary's College) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 69 (21) | 74 (23) | 87 (31) | 90 (32) | 98 (37) | 108 (42) | 110 (43) | 105 (41) | 109 (43) | 96 (36) | 85 (29) | 73 (23) | 110 (43) |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 53.1 (11.7) | 58.1 (14.5) | 61.7 (16.5) | 66.8 (19.3) | 71.5 (21.9) | 77.3 (25.2) | 81.9 (27.7) | 81.0 (27.2) | 80.5 (26.9) | 72.7 (22.6) | 61.9 (16.6) | 54.0 (12.2) | 68.4 (20.2) |
| Daily mean °F (°C) | 44.1 (6.7) | 48.0 (8.9) | 50.4 (10.2) | 54.3 (12.4) | 59.0 (15.0) | 64.1 (17.8) | 67.7 (19.8) | 67.5 (19.7) | 66.3 (19.1) | 59.4 (15.2) | 50.8 (10.4) | 45.0 (7.2) | 56.4 (13.5) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 35.1 (1.7) | 37.9 (3.3) | 39.1 (3.9) | 41.7 (5.4) | 46.5 (8.1) | 50.8 (10.4) | 53.6 (12.0) | 53.9 (12.2) | 52.1 (11.2) | 46.2 (7.9) | 39.6 (4.2) | 36.0 (2.2) | 44.4 (6.9) |
| Record low °F (°C) | 18 (−8) | 19 (−7) | 22 (−6) | 28 (−2) | 32 (0) | 37 (3) | 42 (6) | 40 (4) | 35 (2) | 28 (−2) | 19 (−7) | 14 (−10) | 14 (−10) |
| Averageprecipitation inches (mm) | 6.12 (155) | 4.28 (109) | 3.74 (95) | 1.98 (50) | 0.62 (16) | 0.16 (4.1) | 0.05 (1.3) | 0.07 (1.8) | 0.25 (6.4) | 1.63 (41) | 3.59 (91) | 4.98 (126) | 27.47 (696.6) |
| Average precipitation days(≥ 0.01 in) | 10 | 9 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 9 | 59 |
| Source: Western Regional Climate Center[13] | |||||||||||||
| Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 14,205 | — | |
| 1980 | 15,014 | 5.7% | |
| 1990 | 15,852 | 5.6% | |
| 2000 | 16,290 | 2.8% | |
| 2010 | 16,016 | −1.7% | |
| 2020 | 16,870 | 5.3% | |
| U.S. Decennial Census[14] | |||
The2020 United States census reported that Moraga had a population of 16,870. The population density was 1,783.1 inhabitants per square mile (688.5/km2). The racial makeup of Moraga was 64.5%White, 1.3%African American, 0.2%Native American, 18.9%Asian, 0.2%Pacific Islander, 2.5% fromother races, and 12.4% from two or more races.Hispanic or Latino of any race were 9.8% of the population.
The census reported that 91.2% of the population lived in households, 8.6% lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0.3% were institutionalized.
There were 5,698 households, out of which 37.4% included children under the age of 18, 67.0% were married-couple households, 2.8% werecohabiting couple households, 20.1% had a female householder with no partner present, and 10.2% had a male householder with no partner present. 17.6% of households were one person, and 11.3% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.7. There were 4,477families (78.6% of all households).
The age distribution was 21.9% under the age of 18, 15.8% aged 18 to 24, 14.8% aged 25 to 44, 27.5% aged 45 to 64, and 20.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42.9 years. For every 100 females, there were 92.5 males.
There were 5,932 housing units at an average density of 627.0 units per square mile (242.1 units/km2), of which 5,698 (96.1%) were occupied. Of these, 81.2% were owner-occupied, and 18.8% were occupied by renters.[15][16]
In 2023, the US Census Bureau estimated that the median household income was $199,800, and theper capita income was $89,439. About 3.2% of families and 8.4% of the population were below the poverty line.[17]
The Moraga Library of theContra Costa County Library is located along Saint Marys Road in Moraga.[18]
As of February 10, 2019, Moraga has 11,024 voters with 4,737 (43%) registeredDemocrats, 2,766 (25.1%) registeredRepublicans and 3,105 (28.2%) independent voters.[19]
| Year | Democratic | Republican |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 74.9%7,049 | 21.6%2,033 |
| 2020 | 75.5%7,760 | 22.2%2,287 |
| 2016 | 69.5%6,071 | 23.7%2,071 |
| 2012 | 58.7%5,244 | 39.0%3,487 |
| 2008 | 62.9%5,932 | 35.3%3,324 |
| 2004 | 56.3%5,062 | 42.6%3,835 |
| 2000 | 47.5%4,129 | 48.1%4,184 |
| 1996 | 44.8%3,831 | 48.2%4,126 |
| 1992 | 40.4%3,839 | 41.3%3,926 |
| 1988 | 34.9%3,226 | 64.3%5,953 |
| 1984 | 27.0%2,253 | 72.2%6,021 |
| 1980 | 20.1%1,490 | 67.0%4,972 |
| 1976 | 26.4%1,877 | 72.7%5,177 |
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Moraga is home to the grade schools of Los Perales Elementary, Donald L. Rheem School, Camino Pablo School, and Joaquin Moraga Intermediate School; Campolindo High School; and Saint Mary's College of California, a private college. In 2011, Moraga was named a top city to live and learn in.[21]
The majority of Moraga is in theMoraga School District.[22] That district includes:
A small section of Moraga is inOrinda Union Elementary School District.[22]
All of Moraga is in theAcalanes Union High School District.[22] That district includes:
The Saklan School (formerly known as Saklan Valley School and The Carden School of Moraga), a private elementary school founded in 1954, is also located in Moraga.[27] It is aco-educational school with around 155 students from preschool to 8th grade. The school is accredited by theCalifornia Association of Independent Schools (a member of theNational Association of Independent Schools), and theWestern Association of Schools and Colleges. It has a maximum class size of 16.
Moraga's only public high school isCampolindo High School, although some Moraga students choose to attendMiramonte High School, located just across the town border inOrinda. Both schools are part of theAcalanes Union High School District, which encompasses Moraga, Lafayette, Orinda, and parts of Walnut Creek.
Orion Academy is a private secondary school for students with conditions such asAsperger syndrome, attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), andnonverbal learning disorder.
Saint Mary's College of California is located just northeast of downtown Moraga;[9] it is a Catholic university with 3,962 undergraduate and postgraduate students in the 2007–2008 school year. The college was originally located in San Francisco and thenOakland, but moved to Moraga in 1928.
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