Santa Clara is a family-oriented and business-friendly city, with an award-winning ethics program and a commitment to fostering public trust. The City of Santa Clara is located in the heart of Silicon Valley in Santa Clara County at the southern tip of San Francisco Bay. Santa Clara is about 45 miles south of San Francisco and conveniently near freeways, airports, railroads, expressways, light rail and other public transportation. Santa Clara is known as "The Mission City," and was founded in 1852. It is now a community of about 118,830 residents with an employment base of about 106,750. It is a charming 19.3 square miles of tree-lined neighborhoods, thriving commercial and industrial centers, and 300 days of sunshine each year. It is an ideal home for individuals, families, and businesses.

To learn more about the history of Santa Clara, start by exploring California’s early Spanish history at Mission Santa Clara de Asis. The stately Mission was founded in 1777 and stands on the beautiful campus of Santa Clara University, the State’s oldest institution of higher learning. Other points of interest and attractions are Mission College, the 100-acre California's Great America theme park, an award-winning Santa Clara Convention Center, Triton Museum of Art, the de Saisset Museum, Intel Museum, the headquarters and practice fields of the world champion 49ers football team, and numerous shopping opportunities such as Westfield Shopping town - Valley Fair.

The City of Santa Clara is not your typical Bay Area city. We are better. Voted one of ten All-America Cities in the New Millennium by the National Civic League, Santa Clara has a “High Tech, Human Touch, H2” ™ approach to serving the community’s needs.

It offers the region’s lowest combined utility costs in the nine Bay Area counties, with savings of 30 to 40% on electricity alone. Santa Clara is consistently rated one of the most affordable cities in the nation for businesses.

Santa Clara is a Charter City with a Council/Manager form of government. The City’s financial stability ensures the highest levels of citizen and business service, low business taxes and solid real estate value. It is also one of the safest U.S. cities with a population of 75,000+. Our outstanding public safety record includes the highest fire rating in Santa Clara County and some of the fastest emergency response times in the state.

With a focus on high quality facilities and its reputation for fostering technology innovations, it is no wonder that more than 9,400 businesses, including many of the world’s top technology firms, and thousands of long-time residents have made the City of Santa Clara their home.

Numerous books have been published about the City of Santa Clara's rich and varied history. They are available for checkout at the City's library, or available for purchase from many local places, as well as online.

From historic homes to high tech industry and theme park thrill rides, the City of Santa Clara has it all.