San Jose

Founded in 1777, San Jose was California's first civilian settlement, its first incorporated city after Sacramento (1850), and site of the first capital. It is the state's third largest city and 10th largest in the country. Having more than 7,000 hi-tech companies doing business in the Valley helps San Jose residents earn the nation's third-highest household income.

In 1909, Charles D. Herrold established the world's first radio broadcasting station in the Garden City Bank Building at the southwest corner of First and San Fernando.

In the Santa Clara Valley along the Coyote and Guadalupe rivers, 42 miles southeast of San Francisco, San Jose averages more than 300 sunny days per year. Elevation points within the city limits rise from sea level to 4,372 feet.