Santa Ana

Santa Ana is what happens when one population replaces another in a single generation. The county seat of Orange County since 1889, Santa Ana spent its first century as a typical Southern California farm town—William Spurgeon laid out the community in 1869, the Southern Pacific connected it to Los Angeles in 1878, and agriculture flourished in the Santa Ana Valley.

The transformation began in the 1970s. As white residents fled to surrounding suburbs—Irvine, Costa Mesa, Huntington Beach—Latino immigrants filled the housing stock they left behind. By the 1980s, Santa Ana's downtown had become predominantly Latino. By 2020, Hispanic or Latino residents made up 76.7% of the population. The New York Times called Santa Ana 'the face of a new California, a state where Latinos have more influence in everyday life—electorally, culturally and demographically—than almost anywhere else in the country.'

The demographic shift created a paradox. Santa Ana is now one of the most densely populated cities in California, yet it sits at the center of Orange County's wealth—surrounded by planned suburbs and corporate headquarters. The city handles the county's administrative functions while neighboring cities capture the tax base. This makes Santa Ana both essential and marginalized.

Miguel A. Pulido became the first mayor of Latino descent in the city's history through direct election, marking political power catching up to demographic reality. But the city's 310,000 residents still contend with housing density, infrastructure built for a smaller population, and an economy shaped by neighbors rather than residents.

By 2026, Santa Ana tests whether a majority-Latino city in majority-white Orange County can build political power commensurate with its population—or whether the demographic transition that made it unique also locked in its subordinate position.