Arcadia has experienced a tremendous demographic shift in recent years. A city that was almost uniformly Caucasian 30 years ago is now 45% Asian American. The transformation is linked to a rapid increase in wealth in Asian countries such as Taiwan, China, Korea and Japan. This has led to the immigration of many Asians to countries like the United States. Arcadia offers excellent public schools, which are seen by many young upper-middle class Asian immigrant families as a ticket to a good college, and eventually desirable careers for their children in America. The large, established Asian immigrant community and the relatively high quality of life are also attractive. Since the early 1990s, a growing number of Taiwanese-oriented businesses - housed in a handful of strip malls and old storefronts - have been appearing along and around Baldwin Avenue, due south of Huntington Drive, with a 99 Ranch Market, Arcadia Supermarket, and the popular Taiwan-based Din Tai Fung dumpling restaurant (the only U.S. branch in existence). Asian-American population growth has also been attributed to the exodus of established wealthy Taiwanese immigrants away from poorer Monterey Park, California to affluent Arcadia and neighboring San Gabriel (northern portion), San Marino, South Pasadena, and Temple City. Now the Taiwanese immigrant population in Arcadia is being increasingly joined by immigrants from Mainland China.
The majority of students in Arcadia Schools are of Asian ancestry (in the 2005-2006 school year, Arcadia High's student body was between 63-65% Asian), as the city's white population has a higher median age (non-Hispanic whites make up 24-26% of the AHS student body).[1][2]
As of the census[2] of 2000, there were 53,054 people, 19,149 households, and 14,151 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,865.6/km² (4,830.0/mi²). There were 19,970 housing units at an average density of 702.2/km² (1,818.1/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 45.58% White, 1.13% Black or African American, 0.25% Native American, 45.41% Asian, 0.08% Pacific Islander, 4.16% from other races, and 3.39% from two or more races. 10.61% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 19,149 households out of which 35.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.8% were married couples living together, 11.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.1% were non-families. 22.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.74 and the average family size was 3.23.
In the city the population was spread out with 23.3% under the age of 18, 7.5% from 18 to 24, 27.2% from 25 to 44, 26.5% from 45 to 64, and 15.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 88.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.6 males.
The median income for a household in the city is $56,100, and the median income for a family is $66,657. Males have a median income of $50,594 versus $36,138 for females. The per capita income for the city is $28,400. 7.9% of the population and 6.7% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty, 7.8% are under the age of 18 and 6.1% are 65 or older.
Source Cited: http://www.ci.arcadia.ca.us/docs/census_information.pdf
