Incorporated: 1965

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If the San Joaquin Valley were a state, it would rank ninth in the nation for population growth, eighth for Asian-American population, and sixth for Hispanic population. An estimated 45 percent of California's migrant and seasonal farmworkers live and work in the San Joaquin Valley, among the world's most productive agricultural areas. More turkeys are raised in the Valley than anywhere else in the country. It is both home to Yosemite National Park and the abandoned California Gold Rush towns.

Amid the San Joaquin Valley's natural attractions, however, lies great need. Migrant farmworkers and other low-income families live in inadequate and often hazardous housing. In the Valley's more rural areas, these conditions are aggravated by a lack of clean drinking water and sanitary sewer systems. Poverty rates in the eight counties that lie in the heart of the Valley range from 15.3 percent to 28.1 percent. Unemployment rates are similarly high, reaching 15.4 percent in Tulare County.