A city of 102,188, settled in 1860. Nearly 25.8% of it is conserved land.
The 3 things Chico does most differently from other towns.
Aaron Rodgers
12 postcards, papers and photographs from public archives, and 9 places on the National Register.
86,187 people in 2010; 102,188 today.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 · ACS
What neighbors are saying. Town Square →
Nothing on the calendar.
Ordered by what stands out in Chico. Another town gets a different order.
53% of Chico’s working residents work right in town. The top destinations are Oroville (5%), Sacramento (2%) and Durham (2%). Half commute less than 4 miles.
93 miles of trails across 22 parks and preserves.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Upper Bidwell Park | 52.5 mi | 3,289 |
| 2. Lower Bidwell Park | 6.7 mi | 306 |
| 3. Hooker Oak | 1.2 mi | 30 |
The typical Chico home is worth about $461,000, up 0.6% in a year, 40% below the California typical home.
Chico reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 87% report less. Compared with places its own size, it does better than 38%.
The public schools Chico’s kids attend, from kindergarten through graduation, outperform 78% of California’s districts on state tests and graduation. Among towns with similar incomes, they rank near the top.
| School | Grades | Students | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shasta Elementary | K–5 | 621 | C |
| Emma Wilson Elementary | K–5 | 597 | C |
| Chico Country Day | K–8 | 585 | A− |
| Marigold Elementary | K–5 | 571 | Not graded |
| Rosedale Elementary | K–5 | 563 | Not graded |
| Little Chico Creek Elementary | K–5 | 471 | Not graded |
Chico beats the California average on 6 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 8.
| What stands out | Chico | CA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 8% | 10.6% |
| Fewer adults with diabetes | 8.9% | 11.7% |
| More adults with depression | 26.6% | 20.1% |
Chico has mild winters and hot summers. A typical July afternoon reaches 96°, a January night drops to 38°, and snow is almost unheard of.
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 60% of U.S. communities.
2 colleges in town.
9 places in Chico on the National Register of Historic Places.
55 notable people were born in Chico.
City in California, United States
Chico ( CHEE-koh; Spanish for "boy" or "small/little") is the most populous city in Butte County, California, United States. Located in the Sacramento Valley region of Northern California, the city had a population of 101,475 in the 2020 census, an increase from 86,187 in the 2010 census. Chico is the cultural and economic center of the northern Sacramento Valley, as well as the most populous city in California north of the capital city of Sacramento. The city is known as a college town, as the home of California State University, Chico, and for Bidwell Park, one of the largest urban parks in the world.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
2 towns share a border with Chico.
