Our City
Pico Rivera is a thriving community that offers opportunities to all who live, work, and relax in the City. Situated on the eastern edge of the Los Angeles basin and the southern edge of the area known as the San Gabriel Valley, Pico Rivera is approximately 13 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles.
Formed through the merging of two historic communities, Pico and Rivera, the City was officially incorporated in January 1958 as the 61st city in Los Angeles County. Originally an agricultural area, the community evolved into a residential and industrial area following the end of World War II.
Pico Rivera is governed by a Council-Manager form of government. The voters of Pico Rivera elect a five-member City Council, which in turn appoints a City Manager to carry out its policies and serve as the administrative head of the city organization. As the City’s chief administrator, the City Manager is responsible for overseeing City employees who implement all of the City’s programs, services, and projects, with the exception of police, fire, and library services, which are provided through contracts with the County of Los Angeles.
Elementary and high school students in the community are served by the El Rancho Unified School District and Montebello Unified School District, with a number of universities and colleges in Los Angeles and Orange counties providing a range of opportunities for higher education.
Industrial and commercial uses continue to be attracted to Pico Rivera, thanks in large part to the easy access provided by three freeways, major railroads, and the close proximity of world-class port and airport facilities.
Since its incorporation more than 50 years ago, the City has embraced progress while honoring its heritage. As the community looks forward to the next 50 years, several recent and pending projects will help ensure Pico Rivera continues to be a great place to live, work, and play. These include the recently completed projects such as the Passons Boulevard railroad underpass project, the new Pico Rivera Library on Mines Avenue, and the completion of the Parks Renovation project, which provided much-needed improvement and expansion of city parks and recreational facilities throughout the community.
The City is pleased to provide the latest accomplishments in projects, programs, and other City services. View our 2022-2023 Accomplishments Book here.
Our Mission
Our mission is to positively impact our community by optimizing and engaging our workforce to improve the human experience and quality of life in the City of Pico Rivera.
Our Vision and Values
Our vision and values are to safeguard the public’s trust through open and transparent business practices that consistently maintain our credibility of strong ethical stewardship of all resources. We strive to provide responsive and consistent customer service to the community and our employees, whom we trust to always own the problem and solution to all our business challenges. We recognize that we must engage our workforce in productive and respectful dialogue as our success internally hinges on the dynamic and interdependent partnerships within, thus improving our chances of external success.
Census data is taken from census.gov
