Rodeo, California

Rodeo (/roʊˈdeɪ.oʊ/; Spanish for "Cattle roundup") is a census-designated place (CDP) located in Contra Costa County, California, in the East Bay sub-region of the San Francisco Bay Area, on the eastern shore of San Pablo Bay, 25 miles northeast of San Francisco. The population was 9,653 at the 2020 census. The place is named for the rodeos common in the late 19th century. Cattle from the surrounding hills were regularly driven down through the old town district to a loading dock on the shoreline of San Pablo Bay for shipment to slaughterhouses, a practice which continued through the early 20th century. Rodeo is served by the Interstate 80 freeway and State Route 4 and used to be served by the first transcontinental railroad which still passes through Rodeo. Rodeo has not been a stop on the railroad since the 1950s.

Rodeo, California
Census-designated place
Aerial view of Rodeo
Location in Contra Costa County and the state of California
Coordinates: 38°01′59″N 122°16′01″W
Country	United States
State	California
County	Contra Costa
Government
• State Senate	Jesse Arreguín (D)[1]
• State Assembly	Buffy Wicks (D)[2]
• U. S. Congress	John Garamendi (D)[3]
Area [4]
• Total	4.644 sq mi (12.03 km2)
• Land	3.761 sq mi (9.74 km2)
• Water	0.883 sq mi (2.29 km2)  19.0%
Elevation [5]	16 ft (4.9 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	9,653
• Density	2,567/sq mi (991.0/km2)
Time zone	UTC-8 (PST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-7 (PDT)
ZIP codes	94547, 94572
Area codes	510, 341
FIPS code	06-62490
GNIS feature IDs	1659538, 2409201

History

Rodeo is located on tracts of land that were purchased by ranchers and businessmen John and Patrick Tormey from the Ygnacio Martinez Rancho El Pinole estate in 1865 and 1867.^{[6][better source needed]}

In partnership with the Union Stockyard Co. in 1890, Patrick Tormey (for whom the nearby town of Tormey is named) sold some of the land to them and began to lay out plans and make large investments for the stockyard facilities for a meatpacking and canning industry. Eventually, streets were graded and lots were prepared for homesteads, creating the town of Rodeo.^[6]

Patrick Tormey also sold land in the nearby town of Oleum to the California Lumber Co. for use as a lumberyard (which eventually would be sold to the Union Oil Co. for an oil refinery site). He also sold land in nearby Selby, which was used by the Selby Smelting & Lead Co. He funded the meatpacking plant, corrals and the Rodeo Hotel.^[6]

The first post office opened in 1892.^[7]

After recession in 1893, Patrick Tormey struggled to keep finances going as business began to close, culminating with the bankruptcy of the Union Stockyard Co. Patrick Tormey was plagued with lawsuits over the bankruptcy for the remainder of his life.^[6] Residents were able to find work in nearby towns of Crockett (C&H Sugar), Vallejo (the Mare Island Naval Shipyard), Hercules (Hercules Powder Co.), and Union Oil Co. in Oleum.^[6]

Rodeo as a community managed to continue, but was devastated in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. In the aftermath, the town would rebuild much like other communities around the San Francisco Bay area. There is a large oil refinery in Rodeo, built in 1896 and currently operated by Phillips 66.^[8]

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 4.6 square miles (12 km²), 81% is land, 19% is water.^[4]

Demographics

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1970	5,356		—
1980	8,286		54.7%
1990	7,589		−8.4%
2000	8,717		14.9%
2010	8,679		−0.4%
2020	9,653		11.2%
sources:;[9][10]

The 2020 United States census reported that Rodeo had a population of 9,653. The population density was 2,566.6 inhabitants per square mile (991.0/km²). The racial makeup of Rodeo was 28.7% White, 15.1% African American, 1.2% Native American, 23.8% Asian, 0.8% Pacific Islander, 16.5% from other races, and 13.9% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 29.6% of the population.^[11]

The census reported that 98.1% of the population lived in households, 1.8% lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0.1% were institutionalized.^[11]

There were 3,120 households, out of which 35.1% included children under the age of 18, 47.9% were married-couple households, 5.8% were cohabiting couple households, 28.6% had a female householder with no partner present, and 17.7% had a male householder with no partner present. 21.2% of households were one person, and 9.3% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 3.04.^[11] There were 2,280 families (73.1% of all households).^[12]

The age distribution was 22.1% under the age of 18, 8.5% aged 18 to 24, 27.1% aged 25 to 44, 26.0% aged 45 to 64, and 16.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39.3 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.3 males.^[11]

There were 3,202 housing units at an average density of 851.4 units per square mile (328.7 units/km²), of which 3,120 (97.4%) were occupied. Of these, 62.4% were owner-occupied, and 37.6% were occupied by renters.^[11]

In 2023, the US Census Bureau estimated that 22.7% of the population were foreign-born. Of all people aged 5 or older, 66.2% spoke only English at home, 15.8% spoke Spanish, 4.9% spoke other Indo-European languages, 11.5% spoke Asian or Pacific Islander languages, and 1.7% spoke other languages. Of those aged 25 or older, 84.3% were high school graduates and 27.0% had a bachelor's degree.^[13]

The median household income was $88,819, and the per capita income was $38,287. About 8.4% of families and 10.2% of the population were below the poverty line.^[14]

Education

Rodeo is in the John Swett Unified School District.^[15]

The Rodeo Library of the Contra Costa County Library is located in Rodeo.^[16][17]

Notable people

Rodeo is the hometown of the following:

• Billie Joe Armstrong (guitar, lead vocals) and Mike Dirnt (bass, backing vocals) of punk rock band Green Day
• Lefty Gomez, Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher for the New York Yankees (active 1930-1943)
• Eric the Actor of the Howard Stern Show.
• Sabrina Rogers - 2x Grammy Winner, Trumpet player with the Mariachi Divas de Cindy Shea