Community, Authenticity and Opportunity

"The Mission City" was founded in 1852 and has grown into an internationally diverse community of over 129,000 residents with employment base of about 106,750. With 19.3 square miles of tree-lined neighborhoods, thriving commercial and industrial centers, and 300 days of sunshine each year, Santa Clara is an ideal location for individuals, families and businesses.

Santa Clara is home to an extraordinary array of high-tech companies, including Applied Materials, AMD, Intel, Nvidia, Ericsson. The city is also home to Santa Clara University, Mission College, California’s Great America Theme Park, and Levi’s® Stadium, home of the San Francisco 49ers and future host site of Super Bowl LX and FIFA World Cup in 2026.

Our Mission

The mission of the City of Santa Clara is to promote a living and working environment that allows for the best quality of life by serving the community with resourceful, efficient, progressive and professional leadership.

Adopted by City Council action, July 25, 1989

Not Your Typical Bay Area City

Voted one of 10 All-America Cities in the New Millennium by the National Civic League, Santa Clara has a "High Tech, Human Touch, H2" approach to serving the community's needs. It offers the region's lowest combined utility costs in the nine Bay Area counties, with savings of 30 to 40% on electricity alone, and it is consistently rated one of the most affordable cities in the nation for business.

At the core of the City's government is a dedication to ethics, transparency and service to the community. Santa Clara is a Charter City with a Council/Manager form of government. The City's financial stability ensures the highest levels of citizen and business service, low business taxes and solid real estate value, and it is also one of the safest U.S. cities with a population of 75,000+.

This dedication community is most readily seen in the outstanding efforts and services provided by our world-class police and fire departments. Our outstanding public safety record includes the highest fire rating in Santa Clara County and some of the fastest emergency response times in the state.

Speed is critical in Santa Clara--from response times with emergency services to responsiveness at the speed of business. More than 9,400 businesses, including many of the world's top technology firms, have started, taken root and thrived in the City of Santa Clara.  Our dedication to the business community reaches beyond business licenses and services, but focuses on individualized assistance and attention, especially for large or complex business applications that need the involvement of multiple City departments. In these cases, a dedicated liaison will help guide businesses through the process and ensure clear and complete communication. 

Welcome to Santa Clara. Welcome to what's possible!