Clovis Overview


For more than 100 years, Clovis has been a vibrant, forward-looking community, centrally-located in the Central Valley, between Los Angeles and San Francisco. It is known for its beautiful environment, safety, highly-regarded educational institutions and plentiful employment opportunities.

Clovis began as a freight stop along the San Joaquin Valley Railroad, which was organized in 1890 by six Fresno businessmen in partnership with Chicago developer Marcus Pollasky.

The community was given a further boost in 1894 when a group of Michigan lumbermen began logging in the Sierra Nevada. They constructed a 42-mile V-shaped flume that sent rough-cut lumber to a planing mill east of the Clovis railroad station, sparking additional development around the Clovis Station as lumberyard employees built homes and businesses. Churches and schools followed.

Clovis was incorporated in 1912 and today it boasts a total area of 23.28 square miles.

A popular choice for those moving to the Central Valley, Clovis now has a population of approximately 113,883, increasing by 49.3 percent since 2000. It has the lowest unemployment rate and the highest household income in the region. In fact, people even pay a premium for homes with a Clovis address.

Clovis has been ranked as the Best City for Young Families in California by the consumer information website, NerdWallet, based on the quality of the schools, home values, household income and family-friendly activities.

It was also one of only two Central Valley cities named as a top city for job seekers in California. They have added thousands of new jobs in recent years, thanks to across-the-board expansions in health care, industrial and retail.

Clovis is also renowned for the Clovis Veterans Memorial District, a California Special District established in 1946 to honor veterans and serve the Clovis community. The District’s 20,200-square-foot Rex Phebus Memorial Building features a 350-seat auditorium, a ballroom that can accommodate over 900 guests and meeting rooms of various sizes used to host many different meetings and events for the Clovis community. The facility’s patrons include veterans’ organizations, nonprofit groups, governmental agencies from around the state and country, weddings, memorial services and more.

Today’s Clovis boasts eight major health centers and a thriving business community.

Residents are employed in manufacturing, retail, educational services, health care/social assistance, accommodation/food services and public administration. In fact, nearly 8,000 jobs have been added since 2012.