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.

Telecommuters are a relatively large percentage of the workforce: 8.47% of people work from home. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce it is high relative to the nation. 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.

In Whittier, however, the average commute to work is quite long. On average, people spend 32.86 minutes each day getting to work, which is significantly higher than the national average.

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 2018 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.

Whittier also has a high percentage of its population that was born in another country: 16.70%.

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