Galt, California

Galt is a city in Sacramento County, California, United States. It is part of the Sacramento metropolitan area. The population was 25,383 at the 2020 census, up from 23,647 at the 2010 census.<ref name="QF">Template:Cite web</ref>

History

Galt was founded in 1869 by the Central Pacific Railroad as part of the first transcontinental railroad.<ref name="history">Template:Cite web</ref> The town is named after Galt, Ontario, the hometown of local rancher John McFarland. <ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of Template:Convert, of which 99.81% is land and 0.19% is water.<ref name="CenPopGazetteer2020"/>

The city is bordered entirely by unincorporated areas of both Sacramento and San Joaquin Counties.

Climate

According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Galt has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate, abbreviated "Csa" on climate maps.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Demographics

2020

The 2020 United States census reported that Galt had a population of 25,383. The population density was Template:Convert. The racial makeup of Galt was 50.7% White, 1.9% African American, 1.7% Native American, 4.1% Asian, 0.4% Pacific Islander, 22.8% from other races, and 18.4% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 45.7% of the population.<ref name=DP1>Template:Cite web</ref>

The census reported that 99.4% of the population lived in households, 0.2% lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0.4% were institutionalized.<ref name=DP1/>

There were 8,131 households, out of which 41.7% included children under the age of 18, 58.7% were married-couple households, 6.3% were cohabiting couple households, 22.4% had a female householder with no partner present, and 12.6% had a male householder with no partner present. 16.2% of households were one person, and 8.8% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 3.1.<ref name=DP1/> There were 6,424 families (79.0% of all households).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The age distribution was 25.9% under the age of 18, 9.3% aged 18 to 24, 25.8% aged 25 to 44, 25.0% aged 45 to 64, and 14.0% who were 65Template:Nbspyears of age or older. The median age was 36.4Template:Nbspyears. For every 100 females, there were 95.2 males.<ref name=DP1/>

There were 8,304 housing units at an average density of Template:Convert, of which 8,131 (97.9%) were occupied. Of these, 74.3% were owner-occupied, and 25.7% were occupied by renters.<ref name=DP1/>

In 2023, the US Census Bureau estimated that 19.7% of the population were foreign-born. Of all people aged 5 or older, 63.0% spoke only English at home, 31.6% spoke Spanish, 2.6% spoke other Indo-European languages, 2.7% spoke Asian or Pacific Islander languages, and 0.1% spoke other languages. Of those aged 25 or older, 84.0% were high school graduates and 21.1% had a bachelor's degree.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The median household income was $86,327, and the per capita income was $36,124. About 4.4% of families and 7.3% of the population were below the poverty line.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

2010

At the 2010 census Galt had a population of 23,647. The population density was Template:Convert. The racial makeup of Galt was 15,639 (66.1%) White, 430 (1.8%) African American, 361 (1.5%) Native American, 815 (3.4%) Asian, 108 (0.5%) Pacific Islander, 4,834 (20.4%) from other races, and 1,460 (6.2%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 10,113 persons (42.8%).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The census reported that 23,498 people (99.4% of the population) lived in households, 32 (0.1%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 117 (0.5%) were institutionalized.

There were 7,262 households, 3,516 (48.4%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 4,431 (61.0%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 895 (12.3%) had a female householder with no husband present, 465 (6.4%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 431 (5.9%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 32 (0.4%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 1,171 households (16.1%) were one person and 547 (7.5%) had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 3.24. There were 5,791 families (79.7% of households); the average family size was 3.62.

The age distribution was 7,347 people (31.1%) under the age of 18, 2,262 people (9.6%) aged 18 to 24, 6,344 people (26.8%) aged 25 to 44, 5,414 people (22.9%) aged 45 to 64, and 2,280 people (9.6%) who were 65 or older. The median age was 32.4 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.3 males.

There were 7,678 housing units at an average density of 1,291.6 per square mile, of the occupied units 5,344 (73.6%) were owner-occupied and 1,918 (26.4%) were rented. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.3%; the rental vacancy rate was 5.2%. 17,034 people (72.0% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 6,464 people (27.3%) lived in rental housing units.

Arts and culture

Civic groups and clubs include:

• Galt Area Historical Society.<ref>http://galthistory.org/</ref>
• Performing Animal Welfare Society, a refuge for retired, abandoned or abused performing animals and exotic animals.<ref>http://pawsweb.org/</ref>
• Galt Lions Club.

The city hosts an annual winter bird festival, in conjunction with the Cosumnes River Preserve.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Brewster House is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The California Department of Corrections "Boot Camp" School is located in Galt.

Government

Galt operates under an elected council form of government. The Mayor of Galt is peer elected by the entire City Council. Currently, the council members (with end of term in parentheses) are: Mayor Shawn Farmer (2026), Vice Mayor Paul Sandhu (2026), Council Member Bonnie Rodriguez (2026), Council Member Tim Reed (2028) and Council Member Mathew Pratton (2028).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In the California State Legislature, Galt is in Template:Representative, and Template:Representative.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In the United States House of Representatives, Galt is in Template:Representative.<ref>Template:Cite GovTrack</ref>

Education

Galt Joint Union Elementary School District operates the city's public elementary and intermediate schools, and Galt Joint Union High School District operates the city's public high schools.

Media

Galt has had a weekly newspaper, The Galt Herald, since 1904.

Infrastructure

The local fire department is owned and operated by the Cosumnes Community Services District.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Notable people

• LeVar Burton, at the age of thirteen, entered St. Pius X seminary in Galt to become a priest.
• Ryan Mattheus, former pitcher for the Washington Nationals and Cincinnati Reds of Major League Baseball
• Zach Phillips, former MLB pitcher
• Stephanie Brown Trafton, gold medalist in the discus throw at the 2008 Summer Olympics