Biggs, California

Biggs (formerly Biggs Station)^[6] is a city in Butte County, California, United States. The population was 1,964 at the 2020 census, up from 1,707 at the 2010 census.^[7]

City of Biggs
City
Seal
Nickname:  "Heart of Rice Country"
Motto:  "Where The People Own The Water And Power"
Location of Biggs in Butte County, California.
City of Biggs Location in the United States
Coordinates: 39°24′50″N 121°42′37″W
Country	United States
State	California
County	Butte
Incorporated	June 26, 1903[1]
Government
• Type	Council - Manager
• State Senator	Megan Dahle (R)[2]
• State Assembly	James Gallagher (R)[3]
• U. S. Congress	Doug LaMalfa (R)[4]
Area [5]
• Total	0.90 sq mi (2.32 km2)
• Land	0.90 sq mi (2.32 km2)
• Water	0.00 sq mi (0.00 km2)  0%
Elevation	98 ft (30 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	1,964
• Density	2,194.41/sq mi (847.61/km2)
Time zone	UTC-8 (PST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-7 (PDT)
ZIP code	95917
Area codes	530, 837
FIPS code	06-06560
GNIS feature IDs	277474, 2409848
Website	www.biggs-ca.gov

Geography

Biggs is located at 39°24′50″N 121°42′37″W (39.413820, -121.710316).^[8]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 0.9 square miles (2.3 km²), all of it land.^[5]

Marion Biggs, the city's namesake.

History

A post office was established at Biggs Station in 1871, and the name changed to Biggs in 1884.^[9] It was incorporated in 1903.^[9] Biggs is named for Maj. Marion Biggs, who first shipped grain by rail from the town's location.^[9]

In 1877, ancestors of the scientist Linus Pauling left Missouri and travelled to California, where they lived for a time in Biggs, "a settlement composed mostly of Germans"^[10] (the ancestors in question were themselves of German descent).^[10]

In late 2002, the town's mayor received a letter from Jeff Manning, executive director of the California Milk Processor Board, proposing that the town change its name to "Got Milk?". The town council of Biggs subsequently rejected the proposal.^[11]

As of 2019, Biggs has been declared a sister city to Woburn, MA by the mayor of Woburn—Ralph Grande.

Demographics

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1880	95		—
1890	571		501.1%
1910	403		—
1920	683		69.5%
1930	463		−32.2%
1940	547		18.1%
1950	784		43.3%
1960	831		6.0%
1970	1,115		34.2%
1980	1,413		26.7%
1990	1,581		11.9%
2000	1,793		13.4%
2010	1,707		−4.8%
2020	1,964		15.1%
U.S. Decennial Census[12]

The 2020 United States census reported that Biggs had a population of 1,964. The population density was 2,194.4 inhabitants per square mile (847.3/km²). The racial makeup of Biggs was 57.1% White, 1.2% African American, 1.9% Native American, 4.1% Asian, 0.0% Pacific Islander, 25.5% from other races, and 10.2% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 39.6% of the population.^[13]

The whole population lived in households. There were 642 households, out of which 42.8% included children under the age of 18, 53.6% were married-couple households, 7.3% were cohabiting couple households, 27.1% had a female householder with no partner present, and 12.0% had a male householder with no partner present. 15.1% of households were one person, and 8.4% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 3.06.^[13] There were 499 families (77.7% of all households).^[14]

The age distribution was 27.6% under the age of 18, 9.0% aged 18 to 24, 23.6% aged 25 to 44, 25.9% aged 45 to 64, and 13.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35.4 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.8 males.^[13]

There were 676 housing units at an average density of 755.3 units per square mile (291.6 units/km²), of which 642 (95.0%) were occupied. Of these, 70.6% were owner-occupied, and 29.4% were occupied by renters.^[13]

Education

Biggs is within the Biggs Unified School District.^[15] The public schools in the Biggs Unified School District are Biggs Elementary School, Richvale Elementary School and Biggs High School.^[16]