Fontana is a city in the Inland Empire region of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Founded by Azariel Blanchard Miller in 1913, it remained essentially rural until World War II, when entrepreneur Henry J. Kaiser built a large steel mill in the area. It is now a regional hub of the trucking industry, with the east–west Interstate 10 and State Route 210 crossing the city and Interstate 15 passing diagonally through its northwestern quadrant. The city is about east of Los Angeles.
The United States Census Bureau reported that Fontana's 2020 population was 208,393, making it the second-most-populous city in San Bernardino County and the 20th largest in the state.
History
Native Americans inhabited the area.
Fontana, formerly Rosena from 1890 to 1919, was founded in 1919 by Azariel Blanchard Miller. The name fontana is Italian for fountain or water source; the city is close to the Santa Ana River to the east. Within a few years, it became an agricultural town of citrus orchards, vineyards and chicken ranches and astride U.S. Route 66 (now known as Foothill Boulevard). The Fontana area was radically transformed during World War II when Henry J. Kaiser built the Kaiser Steel plant just outside the city limits. At the time, it was one of only two steel mills west of the Mississippi River. To provide for the plant workers' health needs, Henry J. Kaiser constructed the Fontana Kaiser Permanente medical facility, now the largest managed care organization in the United States.
In the 1950s and 1960s, Fontana was home to a drag racing strip that was a venue in the NHRA circuit. Mickey Thompson's Fontana International Dragway was also referred to as Fontana Drag City or Fontana Drag Strip. The original Fontana strip is gone, but the owners of NASCAR's new Auto Club Speedway opened a NHRA-sanctioned drag strip just oustside Fontana in mid-2006.
Ro-Val's automobile museum, located on Foothill Boulevard on the western outskirts between Fontana and Cucamonga, was the home for many classic automobiles of the 1920s and 1930s, including a huge vehicle once owned by screen actor Fatty Arbuckle. When the Ro-Val museum closed, the vehicles were sold to Bill Harrah, a Nevada casino owner and automobile collector, who placed them on display in the museum located at his casino.
In 2000, the city had a total population of 128,929; by 2020, the city had 212,704 residents. This rapid growth was largely due to the numerous large, new residential developments built in the sparsely populated northern part of the city, as well as with the city's aggressive (and highly successful) campaign to annex several unincorporated, but developed, San Bernardino County areas in 2006–2007.
In 2019, the California Air Resources Board advised the City against housing people within 1,000 feet of industrial warehouses because of harmful truck pollution. The city was also sued by San Bernardino County, the Center for Biological Diversity, the Sierra Club and the Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice over the approval of West Valley Logistics Center, which violated state environmental laws.
In 2021, the city was sued by the State of California Attorney General's office for violation of the California Environmental Quality Act by encouraging warehouse development in low-income areas.
Geography Most of the city of Fontana, like its eastern neighbors Rialto and San Bernardino, is built atop a geologically young, gently southward-sloping alluvial fan from nearby Lytle Creek, deposited mainly during the Holocene and late-Pleistocene epochs. There are also sedimentary deposits of similar age from Etiwanda Creek on the western edge of the city. However, the northern and southern edges of the city are formed by the much older San Gabriel and Jurupa mountain ranges, respectively. The Jurupa Mountains are composed primarily of Cretaceous and Paleozoic-era rocks, as are the San Gabriels, which also include even older, Proterozoic formations. The most prominent of the San Gabriel Mountains visible from Fontana is Cucamonga Peak, elevation . Additionally, the Cucamonga Fault Zone, contiguous with the Sierra Madre Fault Zone, runs through the northern part of the city, along the base of the San Gabriels, notably through the Hunter's Ridge and Coyote Canyon planned communities. It is estimated to be capable of producing earthquakes approximately of magnitude 6.0–7.0.
The city's listed elevation, measured from the northeast corner of the intersection of Upland Avenue and Sierra Avenue, downtown by City Hall, is . The highest elevation within the city limits is approximately , in the northernmost part of the Panorama neighborhood of Hunter's Ridge. The lowest point within the city limits is approximately , at the intersection of Etiwanda and Philadelphia avenues, in the extreme southwestern corner of the city. This difference in elevation is due to the southward slope of the Lytle Creek alluvial fan.
Climate The city is frequently affected by the strong, hot and dry Santa Ana winds as they blow through the nearby Cajon Pass of the San Gabriel Mountains, from the Mojave Desert. Fontana can also be extremely hot in summer, well over .
Demographics
Racial and ethnic composition +Fontana, California– Racial and ethnic compositionRace / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)Pop 2000Pop 2010Pop 2020% 2000% 2010% 2020White alone (NH)30,86530,27925,88323.94%15.44%12.42%Black or African American alone (NH)14,62918,15717,65811.35%9.26%8.47%Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)4584544890.36%0.23%0.23%Asian alone (NH)5,39812,45616,9924.19%6.35%8.15%Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)3514744470.27%0.24%0.21%Other race alone (NH)1973381,2120.15%0.17%0.58%Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)2,6072,9544,4432.02%4.51%2.13%Hispanic or Latino (any race)74,424130,957141,26957.72%66.79%67.79%Total128,929196,069208,393100.00%100.00%100.00%
2020 census The 2020 United States census reported that Fontana had a population of 208,393. The population density was . The racial makeup of Fontana was 23.9% White, 9.0% African American, 2.2% Native American, 8.5% Asian, 0.3% Pacific Islander, 38.1% from other races, and 18.1% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 67.8% of the population.
The census reported that 99.8% of the population lived in households, 0.1% lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0.1% were institutionalized.
There were 54,532 households, out of which 51.4% included children under the age of 18, 57.7% were married-couple households, 6.8% were cohabiting couple households, 22.3% had a female householder with no partner present, and 13.2% had a male householder with no partner present. 9.9% of households were one person, and 4.2% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 3.81. There were 46,961 families (86.1% of all households).
The age distribution was 27.2% under the age of 18, 11.2% aged 18 to 24, 28.0% aged 25 to 44, 24.3% aged 45 to 64, and 9.3% who were 65years of age or older. The median age was 32.9years. For every 100 females, there were 97.3 males.
There were 55,632 housing units at an average density of , of which 54,532 (98.0%) were occupied. Of these, 66.8% were owner-occupied, and 33.2% were occupied by renters.
In 2023, the US Census Bureau estimated that 28.3% of the population were foreign-born. Of all people aged 5 or older, 42.0% spoke only English at home, 49.5% spoke Spanish, 1.1% spoke other Indo-European languages, 5.5% spoke Asian or Pacific Islander languages, and 2.0% spoke other languages. Of those aged 25 or older, 79.0% were high school graduates and 20.4% had a bachelor's degree.
The median household income was $98,187, and the per capita income was $31,888. About 8.9% of families and 10.3% of the population were below the poverty line.
2010 The 2010 United States census reported that Fontana had a population of 196,069. The population density was . The racial makeup of Fontana was 92,978 (47.4%) White (15.4% Non-Hispanic White), 19,574 (10.0%) African American, 1,957 (1.0%) Native American, 12,948 (6.6%) Asian, 547 (0.3%) Pacific Islander, 58,449 (29.8%) from other races, and 9,616 (4.9%) from two or more races. There were 130,957 people of Hispanic or Latino origin, of any race (66.8%).
The Census reported that 195,625 people (99.8% of the population) lived in households, 216 (0.1%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 228 (0.1%) were institutionalized.
There were 49,116 households, out of which 29,465 (60.0%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 30,245 (61.6%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 8,074 (16.4%) had a female householder with no husband present, 4,125 (8.4%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 3,447 (7.0%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 317 (0.6%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 4,801 households (9.8%) were made up of individuals, and 1,633 (3.3%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.98. There were 42,444 families (86.4% of all households); the average family size was 4.18.
In the city, 64,521 people (32.9%) were under the age of 18, 22,995 people (11.7%) aged 18 to 24, 57,646 people (29.4%) aged 25 to 44, 39,823 people (20.3%) aged 45 to 64, and 11,084 people (5.7%) were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 28.7 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.7 males.
There were 51,857 housing units at an average density of , of which 33,862 (68.9%) were owner-occupied, and 15,254 (31.1%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.6%; the rental vacancy rate was 6.0%. 134,857 people (68.8% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 60,768 people (31.0%) lived in rental housing units.
According to the 2010 United States census, Fontana had a median household income of $64,195, with 15.0% of the population living below the federal poverty line.
German, Irish, English, Italian and European are the most common ancestries. Spanish and Tagalog are the most common non-English languages.
Economy Fontana's economy is driven largely by industrial uses, particularly trucking-based industries. Public funding assists in reducing the associated pollution impacts the community.
In 2025, ZM Trucks announced plans to build a 210,000-square-foot zero-emission-truck manufacturing facility in Fontana. The facility also will serve at the company's corporate headquarter. ZM Trucks said the plant will be able to produce up to 100,000 medium- and heavy-duty all-electric vehicles per year.
According to the city's 2023 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top employers in the city are:
# Employer # of Employees1Kaiser Permanente9,6772Fontana Unified School District5,9833Amazon3,1454Saint Bernardine Medical Center1,7755Target1,2976City of Fontana1,1437Walmart Distribution -Drop Yard1,0048Walmart1,0049Saia34910Legendary Staffing325
Arts and culture
The Center Stage Theater was built in the Art Deco style in 1937, and designed by architect C. H. Boller. The former Fontana (movie) Theater was recently renovated during 2004–2008 after several decades of various other uses, into a live dinner theater, with $6,000,000 in funds earmarked by the Fontana City Council. It reopened to the public on July 25, 2008. The Theater closed in 2022 for another major renovation, reopening in 2024 as Stage Red in honor of Fontana-raised musician Sammy Hagar, who performed on opening night.
The Art Depot is one of Fontana's original community centers, and is a specialized Cultural Arts facility. Originally built as a freight depot of the Pacific Electric Railway in 1915, the Art Depot sits alongside the newly landscaped Pacific Electric Trail in the Helen Putnam Historical Plaza. The Art Depot offers art classes, open studio activities, and special events.
Auto Club Speedway