When you look at the population of the cities in California, you will quickly notice that there are many differences. For example, the Monterey Park City Center neighborhood has a much higher proportion of foreign-born residents than 99.4% of the U.S. population. However, Monterey Park City Center residents don't have to leave home to commute to work. Those who work in Monterey Park City Center are able to get to work in as little as fifteen minutes.
People in Monterey Park City Center speak a wide variety of languages, but their primary language is Chinese. Other languages commonly spoken in the neighborhood include Spanish and Vietnamese. The percentage of people with Asian ancestry in Monterey Park City Center is high, too, as 71.4% of residents identify themselves as Asian or Mexican. The city is home to a large Chinese population.
The city's demographics have changed over the years, but it remains mostly middle-class. During the 1960s, the city was almost entirely white. By 1990, the percentage of Asian and Pacific Islander residents was over 30 percent, with African-Americans remaining under one percent. However, Monterey Park has retained its middle-class character. Although Monterey Park was once known as "Chinese Beverly Hills", it is now a multi-ethnic city with a multi-ethnic population that represents a diverse mix of races and ethnicities.
Although the Chinese population was relatively small in 1980, the area became highly concentrated. In 1980, only seven census tracts had more than fifty people of Chinese descent. The largest number was in downtown Chinatown. Afterwards, Monterey Park became the center of the suburban Chinese zone. In the 1980s, Monterey Park became a center for the Chinese ethnic community in the San Gabriel Valley.