Whittier is a larger medium-sized city located in the state of California. With a population of 84,496 people and 42 associated neighborhoods, Whittier is the 95th largest community in California.

Housing costs in Whittier are among some of the highest in the nation, although real estate prices here don't compare to real estate prices in the most expensive communities in California.

One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 8.47% of the workforce. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce this is high compared to the rest of the county. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.

One downside of living in Whittier, however, is that residents on average have to contend with a long commute, spending on average 32.86 minutes every day commuting to work.

The overall education level of Whittier is somewhat higher than in the average US city of 21.84%: 28.28% of adults 25 and older in the city have at least a bachelor's degree.

The per capita income in Whittier in 2022 was $37,433, which is middle income relative to California, and upper middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $149,732 for a family of four. However, Whittier contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

Whittier is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Whittier home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. People of Hispanic or Latino origin are the most prevalent group in Whittier, accounting for 67.77% of the city’s residents (people of Hispanic or Latino origin can be of any race). The greatest number of Whittier residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. Important ancestries of people in Whittier include German, Irish, English, Italian, and French.

Foreign born people are also an important part of Whittier's cultural character, accounting for 16.70% of the city’s population.

The most common language spoken in Whittier is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Chinese.