Dana Point is a dense, suburban community with excellent public schools, many coffee shops, restaurants, and other services. The city was named for Richard Henry Dana, Jr., a Harvard-trained lawyer and a former merchant seaman who founded the city in 1876. He purchased the land from an owner and promised it would have sidewalks, electricity, and tree-lined streets. Woodruff built thirty-four houses and a number of other buildings.
Dana Point is home to 34,037 residents. Its seven miles of bluffs and rolling hills hug the Pacific Ocean. A unique promontory, the Dana Point Headlands, overlooks the harbor. The city has a very low violent crime rate and an attractive environment.
Dana Point has a relatively low poverty rate. The poverty rate is 1.03% for working adults and 4.63% for part-time workers. The poverty rate is 9.50% for non-workers. The population of Dana Point is composed of whites and Hispanics. Non-citizens include legal permanent residents, foreign students, temporary workers, humanitarian migrants, and illegal immigrants.
The city's median household income in 2007 was $63,043. In 2007, the median income for families was $81,665. Males were $52,159, and females were $38,902. The median age in the city was forty years. As of the 2000 Census, males outnumbered females.