Commerce, California | |
|---|---|
 Images, from top, left to right:Citadel Outlets, Rosewood Park and Aquatorium, Commerce Casino, Civic Center | |
 Flag  Seal | |
| Motto: "The Model City" | |
 Location of Commerce in Los Angeles County, California. | |
  Commerce Location of Commerce in Los Angeles County, California Show map of the Los Angeles metropolitan area Commerce Location of Commerce in California Show map of California Commerce Location of Commerce in the USA Show map of the United States | |
| Coordinates:34°0′2″N118°9′17″W / 34.00056°N 118.15472°W /34.00056; -118.15472 | |
| Country |  United States |
| State |  California |
| County | Los Angeles |
| Incorporated | January 28, 1960[1] |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Ivan Altamirano[2] |
| • Mayor Pro Tem | Kevin Lainez |
| • City council | Hugo A. Argumedo Mireya Garcia Oralia Rebollo |
| • City Manager | Ernie Hernandez |
| • Assistant City Manager | Vilko Domic |
| Area | |
• Total | 6.53 sq mi (16.92 km2) |
| • Land | 6.53 sq mi (16.92 km2) |
| • Water | 0 sq mi (0.00 km2) 0.02% |
| Elevation | 141 ft (43 m) |
| Population (2020) | |
• Total | 12,378 |
| • Density | 1,894.6/sq mi (731.49/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC−8 (PST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−7 (PDT) |
| ZIP Codes | 90022–90023, 90040, 90091[5] |
| Area code | 213/323/562 |
| FIPS code | 06-14974 |
| GNIS feature IDs | 1660503,2410209 |
| Website | www |
Commerce is a city located in southeastLos Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 12,378 at the2020 census, down from 12,823 at the2010 census. It is usually referred to as theCity of Commerce to distinguish it from thecommon noun. It is bordered byVernon on the west,Los Angeles on the northwest,East Los Angeles on the north,Montebello on the east,Downey andBell Gardens on the south, andMaywood on the southwest. TheLos Angeles River forms part of its southwestern boundary, and theRio Hondo separates it from Downey. Commerce is served by theLong Beach andSanta Ana freeways, as well as theMetrolinkcommuter rail service at theCommerce station.
In the 19th century, the area was part ofAntonio Maria Lugo'sRancho San Antonio. Its conversion to an industrial area began in 1887, when theAtchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway built its main line through the area. The ranch remained intact untilArcadia Bandini de Stearns Baker, reputedly once the wealthiest woman in Los Angeles, sold some of it around the turn of the 20th century. TheAtchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway andLos Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad (later the Union Pacific) both were built through what would become the community, as was thePacific Electric Railway'sWhittier Line. By the 1920s, factories had arrived. In the late 1940s, industrial leaders banded together with residents in the communities of Bandini, Rosewood, and Laguna to encourage commerce. They changed the name to match that goal.
The city wasincorporated in 1960 to prevent neighboring cities such as Vernon and Los Angeles from annexing industrial land for tax revenue and elected its first city mayor, Maurice Quigley. In the 1970s and 1980s, Commerce successfully negotiated the turbulent period ofdeindustrialization that hammered nearby cities such asSouth Gate andNorwalk, maintaining much of its manufacturing and goods-distribution base and successfully converting former industrial land to lucrative commercial uses. The most notable example of this phenomenon is theCitadel Outlets mall, which occupies the site of a former tire factory. The owner of the Citadel, Steve Craig, hosts an annual Clean Up Commerce Day and enlists other businesses to work with the city and volunteers in beautifying a specific area of the city.[6] With a majorrail yard within its borders, Commerce has also benefited greatly from the huge expansion in international trade traffic through the ports of Los Angeles andLong Beach, albeit at the expense of severe air pollution caused by truck congestion on the Long Beach Freeway.
Chrysler had an assembly plant in Commerce from 1930 through July 1971 located at 5800 S. Eastern Avenue and Slauson Avenue, calledLos Angeles (Maywood) Assembly. It was closed at the end of the 1971 model year, as Chrysler decided to triple-stack its transport trains for the 1972 model year; its Los Angeles facility couldn't accommodate this change.[7]
Commerce is also the site of Williams Ranch, on which is the swimming hole that theSleepy Lagoon Murder of José Díaz took place in 1942. The Sleepy Lagoon swimming hole was located near Slauson and Eastern Ave.
According to theUnited States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 6.5 square miles (17 km2), over 99% of it land.
| Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 9,555 | — | |
| 1970 | 10,635 | 11.3% | |
| 1980 | 10,509 | −1.2% | |
| 1990 | 12,135 | 15.5% | |
| 2000 | 12,568 | 3.6% | |
| 2010 | 12,823 | 2.0% | |
| 2020 | 12,378 | −3.5% | |
| U.S. Decennial Census[8] 1860–1870[9][10] 1880-1890[11] 1900[12] 1910[13] 1920[14] 1930[15] 1940[16] 1950[17] 1960[18][19] 1970[20] 1980[21] 1990[22]2000[23] 2010[24] 2020[25] | |||
Commerce first appeared as a city in the1960 U.S. census[18] as part of the Southeast census county division.[19]
| Race / Ethnicity(NH = Non-Hispanic) | Pop 2000[26] | Pop 2010[27] | Pop 2020[25] | % 2000 | % 2010 | % 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| White alone (NH) | 519 | 402 | 293 | 4.13% | 3.13% | 2.37% |
| Black or African American alone (NH) | 63 | 66 | 88 | 0.50% | 0.51% | 0.71% |
| Native American orAlaska Native alone (NH) | 52 | 48 | 38 | 0.41% | 0.37% | 0.31% |
| Asian alone (NH) | 122 | 134 | 163 | 0.97% | 1.04% | 1.32% |
| Native Hawaiian orPacific Islander alone (NH) | 1 | 7 | 3 | 0.01% | 0.05% | 0.02% |
| Other race alone (NH) | 7 | 24 | 44 | 0.06% | 0.19% | 0.36% |
| Mixed race or Multiracial (NH) | 39 | 28 | 59 | 0.31% | 0.22% | 0.48% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 11,765 | 12,114 | 11,690 | 93.61% | 94.47% | 94.44% |
| Total | 12,568 | 12,823 | 12,378 | 100.00% | 100.00% | 100.00% |
The2020 United States census reported that Commerce had a population of 12,378. The population density was 1,894.7 inhabitants per square mile (731.5/km2). The racial makeup of Commerce was 16.8%White, 0.9%African American, 3.3%Native American, 1.5%Asian, 0.0%Pacific Islander, 53.4% fromother races, and 24.2% from two or more races.Hispanic or Latino of any race were 94.4% of the population.[28]
The census reported that 99.4% of the population lived in households, 0.1% lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0.4% were institutionalized.[28]
There were 3,449 households, out of which 45.2% included children under the age of 18, 46.9% were married-couple households, 7.6% werecohabiting couple households, 29.1% had a female householder with no partner present, and 16.4% had a male householder with no partner present. 16.6% of households were one person, and 8.9% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 3.57.[28] There were 2,706families (78.5% of all households).[29]
The age distribution was 23.3% under the age of 18, 10.4% aged 18 to 24, 27.9% aged 25 to 44, 24.0% aged 45 to 64, and 14.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36.5 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.9 males.[28]
There were 3,524 housing units at an average density of 539.4 units per square mile (208.3 units/km2), of which 3,449 (97.9%) were occupied. Of these, 47.3% were owner-occupied, and 52.7% were occupied by renters.[28]
In 2023, the US Census Bureau estimated that the median household income was $71,768, and theper capita income was $26,570. About 11.3% of families and 13.6% of the population were below the poverty line.[30]
At the2010 census Commerce had a population of 12,823. The population density was 1,961.4 inhabitants per square mile (757.3/km2). The racial makeup of Commerce was 6,930 (54.0%) White (3.1% Non-Hispanic White),[31] 96 (0.7%) African American, 161 (1.3%) Native American, 140 (1.1%) Asian, 9 (0.1%) Pacific Islander, 4,886 (38.1%) from other races, and 601 (4.7%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 12,114 persons (94.5%).[32]
The census reported that 12,753 people (99.5% of the population) lived in households, 2 (0%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 68 (0.5%) were institutionalized.
There were 3,382 households, 1,751 (51.8%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 1,693 (50.1%) wereopposite-sex married couples living together, 708 (20.9%) had a female householder with no husband present, 308 (9.1%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 248 (7.3%)unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 23 (0.7%)same-sex married couples or partnerships; 559 households (16.5%) were one person and 326 (9.6%) had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 3.77. There were 2,709 families (80.1% of households); the average family size was 4.17.
The age distribution was 3,824 people (29.8%) under the age of 18, 1,458 people (11.4%) aged 18 to 24, 3,581 people (27.9%) aged 25 to 44, 2,590 people (20.2%) aged 45 to 64, and 1,370 people (10.7%) who were 65 or older. The median age was 31.2 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.7 males.
There were 3,470 housing units at an average density of 530.8 per square mile, of the occupied units 1,619 (47.9%) were owner-occupied and 1,763 (52.1%) were rented. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.0%; the rental vacancy rate was 1.8%. 6,631 people (51.7% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 6,122 people (47.7%) lived in rental housing units.
According to the 2010 United States Census, Commerce had a median household income of $48,729, with 16.5% of the population living below the federal poverty line.[31]
These were the tencities orneighborhoods in Los Angeles County with the largest percentage ofLatino residents, according to the 2000 census:[33]
As of 2000, Mexican (78.4%) and Irish (0.9%) were the most common ancestries. Mexico (83.4%) and El Salvador (4.7%) were the most common foreign places of birth.[34]
According to the city's 2010 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report,[35] the top employers in the city are:
| # | Employer | # of Employees |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Commerce Casino | 2,191 |
| 2 | County of Los Angeles | 910 |
| 3 | Parsec | 890 |
| 4 | Smart & Final | 769 |
| 5 | Unified Grocers | 748 |
| 6 | American International Industries | 592 |
| 7 | Mission Foods | 590 |
| 7 | 99 Cents Only Stores | 549 |
| 9 | Megatoys | 480 |
| 10 | Wine Warehouse | 376 |
| 11 | Valassis Direct Mail | 350 |
| 12 | Gibson Overseas | 346 |
| 13 | City of Commerce | 315 |
| 14 | AT&T California | 302 |
Kimlan Foods USA has its headquarters in Commerce.[36]
In theCalifornia State Legislature, Commerce is inthe 33rd senatorial district, represented byDemocrat Lena Gonzalez, and inthe 54th Assembly district, represented byDemocrat Mark Gonzalez.[37]
In theUnited States House of Representatives, Commerce is inCalifornia's 42nd Congressional District, Represented byDemocrat Robert Garcia.[38]
Commerce residents have many civic services funded from taxes on the local card club, theCommerce Casino, which accounts for 46% ($19.5 Million for budget year 2005/06) of Commerce's tax revenues, and the Citadel. This includes four libraries, a senior center, ateen center, an aquatics center, and a city-owned camp in theSan Bernardino National Forest.[39] Commerce is also one of the few cities in California that provides its residents withfree bus service.[40] Commerce operatesfive bus lines within the city, two routes running Sundays only, and one express bus between The Citadel shopping center andDowntown Los Angeles.[41]
Most of Commerce is served byMontebello Unified School District,[42] while small portions are served by theLos Angeles Unified School District.
Elementary schools that serve Commerce include:
Intermediate schools that serve Commerce include:
K–8 schools:
High schools that serve Commerce include:
Los Cerritos Community News serves the city.
TheLos Angeles County Department of Health Services operates the Whittier Health Center inWhittier, serving Commerce.[50]
Fire protection in Commerce is provided by theLos Angeles County Fire Department, which has its headquarters in Commerce.[51] The LACFD operates Station #22 at 928 South Gerhart Avenue, Station #27, the battalion headquarters, at 6031 Rickenbacker Road, and Station #50 at 2327 South Saybrook Avenue, all in Commerce, as a part of Battalion 3.[52][53] Ambulance transport is provided byCare Ambulance Service.
TheLos Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD) operates the East Los Angeles Station inEast Los Angeles, serving Commerce.[54]
Commerce is a friendship city withNanning,Guangxi, China.[55]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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