Cloverdale Information
Cloverdale is located in the northern portion of Sonoma County, and is the farthest city north in the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area, about 85 miles north of San Francisco. U.S. 101 runs through the town, as does State Route 128. The city has a total area of 2.52 square miles, all of it land. Cloverdale is located in the Wine Country, being part of the Alexander Valley AVA.

History
Cloverdale began as an early stage stop, known as Markleville, on the Rancho Rincon de Musalacon Mexican grant. In 1856 R. B. Markle and W. J. Miller bought 759 acres which included the present site of the town from Johnson Horrell. In 1859, James Abram Kleiser bought Markle’s interest, and the town was laid out. The town was incorporated when the San Francisco and North Pacific Railroad arrived in 1872. By 1878, the railroad service provided three trains a day between Cloverdale and Ferries of San Francisco Bay.

Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 6,831 people, 2,495 households, and 1,741 families residing in the city. The racial makeup of the city was 68.7% White, 0.18% African American, 3.0% Native American, 1.04% Asian, 0.07% Pacific Islander, 2.30% from other races, and 15.3% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 26.7% of the population.
There were 2,495 households out of which 36.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.3% were married couples living together, 9.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.2% were non-families. 24.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.71 and the average family size was 3.24.
In the city the population was spread out with 27.3% under the age of 18, 8.5% from 18 to 24, 28.3% from 25 to 44, 21.7% from 45 to 64, and 14.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 99.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.5 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $42,309, and the median income for a family was $50,000. Males had a median income of $40,036 versus $26,610 for females. The per capita income for the city was $19,750. About 7.2% of families and 10.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.6% of those under age 18 and 9.5% of those age 65 or over.
Politics
In the state legislature Cloverdale is located in the 2nd Senate District, represented by Democrat Mike McGuire, and in the 1st Assembly District, represented by Democrat Jim Woods. Federally, Cloverdale is located in California’s 1st congressional district, represented by Democrat Mike Thompson.

Transportation
Cloverdale is at the junction of U.S. 101 and State Route 128. The city operates Cloverdale Transit and Cloverdale Municipal Airport. Inter-city transit is provided by Sonoma County Transit. Planning is in progress for Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART), a commuter rail service in Sonoma and Marin Counties from Cloverdale to a bay ferry terminal in Larkspur.