Turlock, California Information
Turlock is a city in Stanislaus County, California, United States. As of the 2010 Census, Turlock had a population of 68,549, up from 55,810 at the 2000 census, making it the second-largest city in Stanislaus County after Modesto.
Turlock lies in the Stanislaus County, at 37°30′21″N 120°50′56″W (37.505725, -120.849019), between Modesto, California and Merced, California, at the intersection of State Route 99 and State Route 165. Its elevation is about 31 m (101 ft) above MSL. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 16.9 square miles (44 km2), all land.
Turlock has hot, mostly dry summers and cool, wet winters. Average January temperatures are a maximum of 53.7 °F (12.1 °C) and a minimum of 38.1 °F (3.4 °C). Average July temperatures are a maximum of 94.7 °F (34.8 °C) and a minimum of 62.6 °F (17.0 °C). There are an average of 78.0 days with highs of 90 °F (32 °C) or higher and an average of 19.8 days with lows of 32 °F (0 °C) or lower. The record high temperature was 114 °F (46 °C) on July 9, 1896. The record low temperature was 18 °F (−8 °C) on January 21, 1922, and December 19, 1924.
The average annual precipitation is 11.88 inches (302 mm). There are an average of 48 days with measurable precipitation. The wettest year was 1983 with 27.03 inches (687 mm) and the dryest year was 1953 with 5.32 inches (135 mm). The most precipitation in one month was 8.47 inches (215 mm) in February 1998. The most precipitation in 24 hours was 2.70 inches (69 mm) pm December 11, 1906. Although snow is very rare in Turlock, 3.0 inches (76 mm) fell in January 1922 and 2.0 inches (51 mm) fell in February 1976.
Turlock was founded on December 22, 1871. Construction of the Central Pacific Railroad at that time had reached a station named after Turlough in County Mayo, Ireland. Thus, the new railroad town was named Turlock.
While it grew to be a relatively prosperous and busy hub of activity throughout the end of the 19th century, it was not incorporated as a city until February 15, 1908. By that time intensive agricultural development surrounded most of the city (agriculture remains a major economic force in the region in current times). Turlock became known as the “Heart of the Valley” because of its agricultural production. In the 1930s Turlock was cited by Ripley’s Believe It or Not as having the most churches per capita in the U.S.; this had partly to do with the variety of ethnic churches, which were established for the relatively small settler population. Various religious centers reflecting a diverse population, such as Sikh Gurdwaras, various Christian Assyrian churches, and many mainline Protestant, Mormon and Roman Catholic churches have been built.
The 2012 United States Census reported that Turlock had a population of 69,733. The population density was 4,049.4 people per square mile (1,563.5/km²). The racial makeup of Turlock was 47,864 (69.8%) White, 1,160 (1.7%) African American, 601 (0.9%) Native American, 3,865 (5.6%) Asian, 313 (0.5%) Pacific Islander, 11,328 (16.5%) from other races, and 3,418 (5.0%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 24,957 persons (36.4%). The Census reported that 67,342 people (98.2% of the population) lived in households, 687 (1.0%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 520 (0.8%) were institutionalized.
There were 22,772 households, out of which 9,339 (41.0%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 12,055 (52.9%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 3,161 (13.9%) had a female householder with no husband present, 1,453 (6.4%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 1,387 (6.1%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 153 (0.7%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 4,755 households (20.9%) were made up of individuals and 2,058 (9.0%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.96. There were 16,669 families (73.2% of all households); the average family size was 3.45. The population was spread out with 18,820 people (27.5%) under the age of 18, 8,087 people (11.8%) aged 18 to 24, 18,313 people (26.7%) aged 25 to 44, 15,317 people (22.3%) aged 45 to 64, and 8,012 people (11.7%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32.5 years. For every 100 females there were 94.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.9 males.
There were 24,627 housing units at an average density of 1,454.8 per square mile (561.7/km²), of which 12,622 (55.4%) were owner-occupied, and 10,150 (44.6%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.6%; the rental vacancy rate was 9.0%. 37,867 people (55.2% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 29,475 people (43.0%) lived in rental housing units.
Turlock is the home of California State University, Stanislaus, a liberal arts university, and part of the 23-campus California State University system. As of March 2005, CSU Stanislaus reported a student population of 6,192 undergraduate students. The number rises to 7,858 when considering all students, including graduate students.
Turlock is home to two public high schools: Turlock High School and John H. Pitman High School as well as two continuation high schools: Roselawn High School and John B. Allard High School, which are part of the Turlock Unified School District. Turlock High School, the first in the city, opened in 1907, while Pitman opened in a major growth zone of northern Turlock in 2002. Pitman was awarded the California Distinguished School award in 2007, one of only two high schools in the county to receive the award for that year. Turlock Christian High School is a third, private high school within the city. Classes for Turlock Christian High School are held at Monte Vista Chapel, a church in Turlock. The city of Turlock has one junior high school, one middle school and nine elementary schools.