When was Irvine, California incorporated as a city?
Irvine was incorporated on the 28th of December 1971, when residents voted to form a city larger than architect William Pereira's original plan.
Questions about Irvine, California
Short answers, pulled from the story.
Who was Irvine, California named after?
Irvine was named in 1888 for landowner James Irvine, after the Santa Fe Railroad built a station on his ranch and named it in his honor.
How many people live in Irvine, California?
Irvine had a population of 318,629 as of June 2025, making it the second most populous city in Orange County and the fifth most populous in the Greater Los Angeles region.
What companies are headquartered in Irvine, California?
Companies headquartered in Irvine include Blizzard Entertainment, Broadcom Corporation, In-N-Out Burger, Taco Bell, Vizio, and Rivian. The University of California, Irvine is the city's largest employer, with 18,373 workers as of 2021.
Why did Irvine, California shift from voting Republican to Democratic?
Irvine voted Republican in every presidential election from 1976 to 2004, then shifted Democratic starting in 2008. Researchers link the change to rapid growth in the city's Asian American population and to high rates of college education among residents, a pattern academics call the diploma divide.
How did the Irvine Ranch become the city of Irvine?
The Irvine Ranch formed from three Spanish and Mexican land grants that ranchers James Irvine, Benjamin and Thomas Flint, and Llewellyn Bixby consolidated during the 1860s and 1870s. James Irvine II later incorporated the ranch as the Irvine Company, and in the late 1950s architect William Pereira designed a planned city on part of that land, which residents incorporated in 1971.