Gerber, California

Gerber is a census-designated place (CDP) in Tehama County, California.^[2] Gerber sits at an elevation of 226 feet (69 m).^[2] The 2020 United States census reported Gerber's population was 1,044.^[4]

Gerber
census-designated place
Main Street
Location of Gerber in Tehama County, California.
Gerber Position in California.
Coordinates: 40°03′36″N 122°09′00″W
Country	United States
State	California
County	Tehama
Area [1]
• Total	0.927 sq mi (2.401 km2)
• Land	0.927 sq mi (2.401 km2)
• Water	0 sq mi (0 km2)  0%
Elevation [2]	226 ft (69 m)
Population  (2020)[3]
• Total	1,044
• Density	1,100/sq mi (430/km2)
Time zone	UTC-8 (Pacific (PST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-7 (PDT)
GNIS feature ID	2628801
U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Gerber, California

History

Gerber was platted in 1910, and named after the Gerber family, original owners of the town site.^[5] A post office has been in operation at Gerber since 1916.^[6]

In the early years, Gerber was a center supporting ranchers and alfalfa growers.

Between 1916 and 1965, Gerber was the location of a division point on the Southern Pacific Railroad between the Sacramento and Shasta Divisions. Situated two miles north of the junction of the West Valley Line to Davis and the East Valley Line to Sacramento via Chico and Marysville, facilities included steam locomotive fueling, repair and crew-change. There were also livestock yards and an icing plant for refrigerator cars. Following the 1955 completion of the railroad's phasing in of diesel locomotives as a replacement to steam, operations at Gerber were gradually curtailed over the following decade and eventually closed down.^[7]

Passenger service continued until 1972 when Amtrak's Coast Starlight discontinued Gerber station as a stop.^[8]

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP covers an area of 0.9 square miles (2.4 km²), all of it land.

Demographics

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
2010	1,066		—
2020	1,044		−2.1%
U.S. Decennial Census[9] 2010[10]

Gerber first appeared as a census designated place in the 2010 U.S. Census after the Gerber-Las Flores CDP was split into the Gerber CDP and Las Flores CDP.^[10]

The 2020 United States census reported that Gerber had a population of 1,044. The population density was 1,126.2 inhabitants per square mile (434.8/km²). The racial makeup of Gerber was 478 (45.8%) White, 9 (0.9%) African American, 50 (4.8%) Native American, 9 (0.9%) Asian, 4 (0.4%) Pacific Islander, 392 (37.5%) from other races, and 102 (9.8%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 582 persons (55.7%).^[11]

The whole population lived in households. There were 359 households, out of which 132 (36.8%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 160 (44.6%) were married-couple households, 21 (5.8%) were cohabiting couple households, 110 (30.6%) had a female householder with no partner present, and 68 (18.9%) had a male householder with no partner present. 78 households (21.7%) were one person, and 42 (11.7%) were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.91.^[11] There were 253 families (70.5% of all households).^[12]

The age distribution was 297 people (28.4%) under the age of 18, 117 people (11.2%) aged 18 to 24, 259 people (24.8%) aged 25 to 44, 253 people (24.2%) aged 45 to 64, and 118 people (11.3%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32.4 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.2 males.^[11]

There were 406 housing units at an average density of 438.0 units per square mile (169.1 units/km²), of which 359 (88.4%) were occupied. Of these, 192 (53.5%) were owner-occupied, and 167 (46.5%) were occupied by renters.^[11]