Hemet is a city in the San Jacinto Valley in Riverside County, California, United States. It covers a total area of , about half of the valley, which it shares with the neighboring city of San Jacinto. The population was 89,833 at the 2020 census. It borders San Jacinto to the north, East Hemet to the east, Polly Butte and Diamond Valley Lake to the south, and Green Acres to the west.
The founding of Hemet predates the formation of Riverside County. This area was then still part of San Diego County. The formation of Lake Hemet helped the city to grow and stimulated agriculture in the area.
The city is known for being the home of The Ramona Pageant, California's official outdoor play. Started in 1923, the play is one of the longest-running outdoor plays in the United States.
Hemet has been named a Tree City USA for 20 years by the Arbor Day Foundation for its dedication to the local forest. The city is home to the Hemet Valley Medical Center, a 320-bed general hospital.
Etymology
Hemet was named by the land development company that founded the town, The Lake Hemet Land Company. The company drew its name from Hemet Valley, now called Garner Valley, located in the San Jacinto Mountains. Initially, the company referred to the area as South San Jacinto, but changed the name to Hemet when the land company filed a plat map on November 11, 1893.
History
This had long been the territory of the indigenous Soboba people and Cahuilla tribe prior to Spanish colonization. During the early 19th century, Mission San Luis Rey used the land for cattle ranching. They named the area with the settler name Rancho San Jacinto.
Mexican period
Following Mexico gaining independence from Spain, in 1842, settler José Antonio Estudillo received the Rancho San Jacinto Viejo Mexican land grant.
In 1848, the United States annexed the California territory after defeating Mexico in the Mexican–American War. In 1887, during the first major Southern California land boom, Anglo-Americans W.F. Whittier and E.L. Mayberry founded the Lake Hemet Water Company, and the Lake Hemet Land Company, for speculative development. They had plans to dam the San Jacinto River to provide irrigation water to the valley. They named the town Hemet in November 1893.
In 1895, they completed Hemet Dam as a private project on the San Jacinto River, creating Lake Hemet and providing a reliable water supply to the San Jacinto Valley. This water system, for irrigation in an arid region, was integral to the valley's development as an agricultural area.
By 1894, settlers had established a newspaper, the Hemet News, and "several general stores", the largest being Heffelfinger & Co, which occupied an entire block. Other businesses included "a drug store, an excellent barber shop, two blacksmith shops, harness shop, shoe repairing houses, two real estate offices and two lumber yards." "The most pretentious building" was the two-story Hotel Mayberry, "supplied with all the modern conveniences usually found in first-class hostelries, including stationary water, baths, etc., and a complete electric light system, the power for which is furnished by the company's private plant." Also noted was the Hemet flour mill, owned by John McCool and built at a cost of $20,000. It was the only such mill in this area, and was housed in a brick building. It could produce 50 barrels of flour per day.
Incorporation
Hemet was incorporated in January 1910. Of 177 residents, 130 voted to incorporate, with 33 against. Those who voted against incorporation were landowners who feared increased taxation. The incorporation helped to serve the growing city, which was outgrowing its current infrastructure.
With a railroad spur running from Riverside, the city became a trading center for San Jacinto Valley agriculture; commodity crops included citrus, apricots, peaches, olives, and walnuts. The Agricultural District Farmer's Fair of Riverside County began here in 1936 as the Hemet Turkey Show. It was relocated to Perris.
During World War II, the city hosted the Ryan School of Aeronautics, which trained about 6,000 fliers for the Army Air Force between 1940 and 1944. The site of the flight school was redeveloped as Hemet-Ryan Airport. In 1950, Hemet was home to 10,000 people, joining Corona and Riverside as the three largest cities in Riverside County.
Hemet was racially discriminatory. Numerous African Americans migrated to California during and after World War II in the Great Migration from such Deep South states as Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. Hemet was a sundown town, prohibiting African Americans from living there or even staying overnight.
In the 1960s, large-scale residential development began, mostly in the form of mobile home parks and retirement communities. Hemet was known as a working-class retirement area. In the 1980s, former ranchland was developed in subdivisions of single-family homes. "Big-box" retail followed the increase in population. After a roughly decade-long lull in development following the major economic downturn of the early 1990s, housing starts in the city skyrocketed in the early 21st century. The area's affordability, its proximity to employment centers such as Corona, Riverside and San Bernardino, and its relatively rural character made it an attractive location for working-class families priced out of other areas of Southern California.
Geography
Hemet is in the San Jacinto Valley of western Riverside County, south of San Jacinto. The valley, surrounded by the Santa Rosa Hills and San Jacinto Mountains, is mostly dry land, except for Diamond Valley Lake to the south. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all land.
Hemet is southeast of Downtown Los Angeles.Wright, Lawrence. "The Apostate." The New Yorker. February 14, 2011. p. 16; . Retrieved on May 10, 2011.
Climate Hemet has a semi-arid climate (Köppen climate classification: BSh) with mild winters and very hot, very dry summers.
Demographics
Racial and ethnic composition +Hemet city, California – Racial and ethnic compositionRace / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)Pop 1980Pop 1990Pop 2000Pop 2010Pop 2020% 1980% 1990% 2000% 2010% 2020White alone (NH)20,47329,83341,34540,72333,05191.18%82.65%70.30%51.77%36.79%Black or African American alone (NH)272261,4074,7118,2850.12%0.63%2.39%5.99%9.22%Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)1522274475495370.68%0.63%0.76%0.70%0.60%Asian alone (NH)1143908422,1972,9140.51%1.08%1.43%2.79%3.24%Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)642393450.11%0.30%0.38%Other race alone (NH)153548914230.07%0.10%0.08%0.12%0.47%Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)xx1,0741,9973,482xx1.83%2.54%3.88%Hispanic or Latino (any race)1,6735,38313,58528,15040,7967.45%14.91%23.10%35.79%45.41%Total22,45436,09458,81278,65789,833100.00%100.00%100.00%100.00%100.00%
2023 estimate In 2023, the US Census Bureau estimated that the median household income was $53,623, and the per capita income was $28,255. About 12.8% of families and 16.0% of the population were below the poverty line.
2020 census As of the 2020 census, Hemet had a population of 89,833 and a population density of . The racial makeup of Hemet was 41,311 (46.0%) White, 8,767 (9.8%) Black or African American, 1,759 (2.0%) American Indian and Alaska Native, 3,116 (3.5%) Asian, 406 (0.5%) Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, 20,785 (23.1%) from other races, and 13,689 (15.2%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race were 40,796 (45.4%) of the population.
98.2% of residents lived in urban areas, while 1.8% lived in rural areas.
The census reported that 98.8% of the population lived in households, 0.3% lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0.9% were institutionalized. There were 33,027 households, out of which 30.6% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 40.6% were married-couple households, 7.2% were cohabiting couple households, 33.3% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present, and 18.9% had a male householder with no spouse or partner present. About 28.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 18.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.69. There were 21,583 families (65.3% of all households).
The age distribution was 23.8% under the age of 18, 8.2% aged 18 to 24, 22.7% aged 25 to 44, 22.6% aged 45 to 64, and 22.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40.3 years. For every 100 females, there were 91.1 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 87.1 males.
There were 35,691 housing units at an average density of , of which 33,027 (92.5%) were occupied. Of the occupied units, 58.6% were owner-occupied and 41.4% were occupied by renters. Of all units, 7.5% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.2%, and the rental vacancy rate was 7.9%.
2010 census The 2010 United States census reported that Hemet had a population of 78,657. The population density was . The racial makeup of Hemet was 53,259 (67.7%) White (51.8% Non-Hispanic White), 5,049 (6.4%) African American, 1,223 (1.6%) Native American, 2,352 (3.0%) Asian, 284 (0.4%) Pacific Islander, 12,371 (15.7%) from other races, and 4,119 (5.2%) from two or more races. There were 28,150 residents of Hispanic or Latino origin, of any race (35.8%).
The census reported that 78,043 people (99.2% of the population) lived in households, 155 (0.2%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 459 (0.6%) were institutionalized.
There were 30,092 households, out of which 9,700 (32.2%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 13,174 (43.8%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 4,349 (14.5%) had a female householder with no husband present, 1,623 (5.4%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 2,002 (6.7%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 208 (0.7%) same-sex married couples or partnerships; 9,119 households (30.3%) were made up of individuals, and 5,754 (19.1%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.59. There were 19,146 families (63.6% of all households); the average family size was 3.24.
There were 20,340 people (25.9%) under the age of 18, 6,814 people (8.7%) aged 18 to 24, 17,323 people (22.0%) aged 25 to 44, 16,776 people (21.3%) aged 45 to 64, and 17,404 people (22.1%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39.0 years. For every 100 females, there were 88.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.3 males.
There were 35,305 housing units at an average density of , of which 18,580 (61.7%) were owner-occupied, and 11,512 (38.3%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 5.0%; the rental vacancy rate was 17.5%. 45,459 people (57.8% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 32,584 people (41.4%) lived in rental housing units.
2009–2013 estimate During 2009–2013, Hemet had a median household income of $32,774, with 23.3% of the population living below the federal poverty line.
Economy According to the California Economic Development Department, in 2005 the economy of Hemet was based on four main industries: retail trade, health care, educational services, and government. These industries provide 4,734, 4,441, and 3,946 jobs respectively. Other major industries in the city include leisure and hospitality, financial services, professional and business services, construction, and manufacturing. The amount of wage and salary positions in Hemet is 22,769, with a further 1,479 people being self-employed, adding up to a total of 24,248 jobs in the city.
Hemet was heavily impacted by the housing crisis which followed the 2008 financial crisis. Rent remains affordable, but the three-hour commute by Metrolink to Union Station in downtown Los Angeles has impeded Hemet's growth as a bedroom community.
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