Stockton Real Estate
Stockton was founded in 1849 by Charles M. Weber and incorporated in 1850. Captain Weber had purchased the 49,000 acres in hopes of striking it rich in gold, but later found it more profitable to provide for the rush by fellow gold-seekers arriving in droves from all over the world. He established the town to serve those needs.
The City was known by many names prior to the christening of its current name. Other ill-suited names included Tuleburg, Gas City and Mudville. Finally, Captain Weber chose to honor Commodore Robert F. Stockton by naming the small community after him. This made Stockton the first community in California to have an American name. Other California cities had received names of Spanish or Native American origin.
Stockton is one of California's fastest growing communities. It is currently the 13th largest city in California with a population of over 260,000. It is situated along the San Joaquin Delta waterway which connects to the San Francisco Bay and the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers. The City is located 60 miles east of the San Francisco Bay Area, 83 miles east of San Francisco, and 45 miles south of the capital city of Sacramento.
Recently, Stockton has experienced a population boom. This is largely due to thousands of people settling in the area to escape the relatively high cost of living found in the San Francisco Bay Area. However, this influx of new residents has resulted in a sharp increase in the Stockton’s cost of living. Even with this increase, Stockton is still significantly lower than any Bay Area city of comparable size.
As of the census of 2000, there were 243,771 people residing in the city. The racial makeup of the city was 43.26% White, 32.50% Hispanic or Latino of any race, 11.25% African American, 1.12% Native American, 19.90% Asian, 0.40% Pacific Islander, 17.31% from other races, and 6.76% from two or more races. The median income for a household in the city was $35,453, and the median income for a family was $40,434. The per capita income for the city was $15,405.