Mission Viejo ( ; corruption of ; ) is a commuter city in the Saddleback Valley in Orange County, California, United States. Mission Viejo is considered one of the largest master-planned communities ever built under a single project in the United States and is rivaled only by Highlands Ranch, Colorado in size. Its population as of 2020 was 93,653.

Mission Viejo is suburban in nature and culture, and consists of residential properties, offices and businesses. The city is noted for its tree-lined neighborhoods, receiving recognition from the National Arbor Day Foundation. The city's name is a reference to Rancho Mission Viejo, a large Spanish land grant from which the community was founded.

The United States Census Bureau defines an urban area of Orange County cities not part of Los Angeles's urban area with Mission Viejo as the principal city: the Mission Viejo–Lake Forest–Laguna Niguel, CA urban area had a population of 646,843 as of the 2020 census, ranked 65th in the United States.

History Rancho Mission Viejo was purchased by Don Juan Forster, an English-born Mexican ranchero. During the Mexican–American War, Forster provided fresh horses to United States military forces which were used on the march of San Diego to invade Los Angeles.

Mission Viejo was a hilly region primarily used as cattle and sheep grazing land, since it was of little use to farmers. This city was one of the last regions of Orange County to be urbanized due to its geologic complexity. In 1960, early developers dismissed most of the land in Mission Viejo as simply "undevelopable".

Donald Bren, an urban planner who later became the president of the Irvine Company, drafted a master plan which placed roads in the valleys and houses on the hills, and contoured to the geography of the area. The plan worked, and by 1980 much of the city of Mission Viejo was completed. During the late 1970s and the 1980s, houses in Mission Viejo were in such high demand that housing tracts often sold out before construction even began on them. The houses and shopping centers in the city are almost uniformly designed in a Spanish mission style, with "adobe"-like stucco walls and barrel-tile roofs. Many point to Mission Viejo as the first and largest manifestation of Bren's obsession with Spanish architecture. Bren's company was also the creator of the developments in Irvine and Newport Beach. The company expanded its operations and went on to build the Lakes project in Tempe, Arizona and Mission Viejo Aurora, and was the initial master planner of Highlands Ranch, both located in the Denver, Colorado Metropolitan area.

Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and (2.05%) is water. A significant portion of the surface water is held in Lake Mission Viejo, an artificial lake stretching approximately one mile from Olympiad Road to Alicia Parkway along Marguerite Parkway.

Mission Viejo is located southeast of Los Angeles, and northwest of San Diego. It is bordered by Lake Forest on the northwest, Trabuco Canyon on the northeast, Rancho Santa Margarita and Ladera Ranch on the east, San Juan Capistrano on the south, and Laguna Niguel and Laguna Hills on the west.

Climate Mission Viejo enjoys a borderline semi-arid/Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification BSh/Csa), with mild temperatures and plentiful sunshine year-round. Rainfall totals, which average around annually are focused primarily in the months from November to March. Summer is very dry and virtually rainless. Due to the city's proximity to the ocean, nighttime and morning clouds are fairly common, especially in May and June, a weather phenomenon commonly known as June Gloom or May Gray.

Like most of Southern California, the city is prone to dry Santa Ana winds, bringing hot air from inland and punctuating the normally mild temperatures with noticeable jumps. For example, temperatures have reached highs of and above throughout many months of the year, occasionally into autumn. From 2012 to 2016, California experienced the worst drought in a century. In 2016, California experienced more rainfall than expected and ended most of the drought. Orange County was the last to have drought restrictions lifted.

Demographics

Mission Viejo first appeared as an unincorporated community in the 1970 U.S. census; and was designated as a census-designated place in the 1980 United States census. After incorporation, it appeared as a city in the 1990 U.S. census.

Racial and ethnic composition +Mission Viejo, California – Racial and ethnic compositionRace / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)Pop 1980Pop 1990Pop 2000Pop 2010% 1980% 1990% 2000% 2010White alone (NH)45,33661,90270,73564,27657,79089.48%85.01%75.98%68.89%61.71%Black or African American alone (NH)4856581,0321,1291,1340.96%0.90%1.11%1.21%1.21%Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)2521762041761170.50%0.24%0.22%0.19%0.12%Asian alone (NH)1,6614,4107,0858,31210,8223.28%6.06%7.61%8.91%11.56%Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)1591461520.17%0.16%0.16%Other race alone (NH)94591482014540.19%0.08%0.16%0.22%0.48%Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)xx2,4733,1885,198xx2.66%3.42%5.55%Hispanic or Latino (any race)2,8385,61511,26615,87717,9865.60%7.71%12.10%17.02%19.20%Total50,666 72,82093,10293,30593,653100.00%100.00%100.00%100.00%100.00%

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, Mission Viejo had a population of 93,653. The median age was 45.9 years. 18.8% of residents were under the age of 18 and 21.4% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 94.1 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 91.3 males age 18 and over.

100.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 0.0% lived in rural areas.

There were 34,072 households in Mission Viejo, of which 29.0% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 61.2% were married-couple households, 12.1% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 22.3% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 19.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

There were 34,982 housing units, of which 2.6% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 0.5% and the rental vacancy rate was 5.3%.

The Mission Viejo–Lake Forest–Laguna Niguel, CA urban area had a population of 646,843 as of 2020, making it the 65th most populous in the United States.

2023 ACS estimates In 2023, the US Census Bureau estimated that the median household income was $136,071, and the per capita income was $60,816. About 3.1% of families and 5.0% of the population were below the poverty line.

2010 census The 2010 United States census reported that Mission Viejo had a population of 93,305. The population density was . The racial makeup of Mission Viejo was 74,493 (79.8%) White (68.9% Non-Hispanic White), 1,210 (1.3%) African American, 379 (0.4%) Native American, 8,462 (9.1%) Asian, 153 (0.2%) Pacific Islander, 4,332 (4.6%) from other races, and 4,276 (4.6%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 15,877 persons (17.0%).

The Census reported that 92,363 people (99.0% of the population) lived in households, 859 (0.9%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 83 (0.1%) were institutionalized.

There were 33,208 households, out of which 11,767 (35.4%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 20,792 (62.6%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 2,967 (8.9%) had a female householder with no husband present, 1,306 (3.9%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 1,211 (3.6%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 225 (0.7%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 6,314 households (19.0%) were made up of individuals, and 2,949 (8.9%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.78. There were 25,065 families (75.5% of all households); the average family size was 3.18.

The population was spread out, with 21,270 people (22.8%) under the age of 18, 7,852 people (8.4%) aged 18 to 24, 21,648 people (23.2%) aged 25 to 44, 29,003 people (31.1%) aged 45 to 64, and 13,532 people (14.5%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42.2 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.2 males.

There were 34,228 housing units at an average density of , of which 25,859 (77.9%) were owner-occupied, and 7,349 (22.1%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 0.9%; the rental vacancy rate was 4.9%. 72,390 people (77.6% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 19,973 people (21.4%) lived in rental housing units.

According to the 2010 United States census, Mission Viejo had a median household income of $96,088, with 5.3% of the population living below the federal poverty line.

The Mission Viejo-Lake Forest-San Clemente urban area (which also includes the cities of Aliso Viejo, Dana Point, Laguna Beach, Laguna Hills, Laguna Niguel, Laguna Woods, Rancho Santa Margarita and San Juan Capistrano) had a population of 583,681 at the 2010 Census. Economy

According to the city's 2025 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, the top employers in the city were:

# Employer # of employees 1Mission Hospital2,9652Saddleback College1,8833Saddleback Valley Unified School District1,4124James Hardie Building Products4365Capistrano Unified School District4326Target Corporation4087Nordstrom3308City of Mission Viejo2999Macy's26510Amazon Delivery Station234

Marie Callender's has its corporate headquarters in the Marie Callender's Corporate Support Center in Mission Viejo."Contact Us." Marie Callender's. Retrieved on May 27, 2012. "Mailing Address: Marie Callender's Corporate Support Center 27101 Puerta Real, Suite 260 Mission Viejo, CA 92691"

Arts and culture The Shops at Mission Viejo and the Kaleidoscope Center serve as the city's two main shopping, dining and entertainment centers. Both cater to an upper middle class customer demographic and feature family-oriented facilities and services.

Mission Viejo also hosts a number of athletic events such as 5K runs and triathlons throughout the year. The city holds a variety of annually recurring events to celebrate holidays including a street fair and fireworks for Independence Day and public decorations and interactive activities for children during the winter holiday season featuring representation for multiple popular religions.

Sports

Mission Viejo has a major youth athletic facility, Mission Viejo Youth Athletic Park. The park consists of eight baseball fields and five soccer fields. It is host to Little League District 68, AYSO Region 84, and four competitive soccer clubs: Pateadores Soccer Club, Mission Viejo Soccer Club, West Coast Futbol Club, and Saddleback United Soccer Club.

The Mission Viejo Nadadores Swimming and Mission Viejo Nadadores Diving Team won a string of national championships and produced a number of Olympians and world record holders in the 1970s and 1980s. Olympians included Shirley Babashoff, Brian Goodell, Larson Jenson, Maryanne Graham, Nicole Kramer, Casy Converse, Marcia Morey, Dara Torres, and Greg Louganis.

Mission Viejo hosted the Road Cycling Events during the 1984 Summer Olympics held in Los Angeles. The old O'Neill Road was renamed Olympiad Rd. in honor of the Olympic events in 1984. In 2004, in honor of the 20th anniversary of the 1984 Olympics Cycling Road Race, the City of Mission Viejo dedicated a permanent start/finish line and historic markers which are installed on Olympiad Road near the entrance to Lake Mission Viejo.In 2004, in honor of the 20th anniversary of the 1984 Olympics Cycling Road Race, Mission Viejo dedicated a permanent start/finish line and historic markers which are installed on Olympiad Road near the entrance to Lake Mission Viejo.