Central Orange County refers to the area in the county between the northern and southern coastal regions. It includes cities such as Santa Ana, Orange, Garden Grove, Fountain Valley, Tustin and Westminster, mostly midsized, landlocked cities, all of which lies just a few miles from the Pacific coastline. The area's largest city is Santa Ana, home to more than 350,000 and which is also the county seat. The other cities all have populations in the 50,000 to 150,000 range, enough to make them all fairly densely populated. Incomes run the gamut in the region, generally in the $40,000 to $80,000 range.
The area is mostly developed from what were once large ranchos derived from the Spanish land grants when the area was still under the Kingdom of Spain's control. Some of the area was once used for agricultural crop growing purposes, mostly of citrus fruits, but today the area's economy is more industrialized, including retails centers, corporate offices and tourist attractions.
The region is near the Santa Ana Mountains. There are hundreds of schools in the area, with many excellent and highly ranked options for parents to choose from. The most notable colleges and universities in the area include Santa Ana College, the California Coast University, the Orange County branch of the Art Institute of California, Chapman University, Santiago Canyon College and Coastline Community College.
The John Wayne Airport is the largest airport in the area to offer commercial flights and public transit routes are operated by the Metrolink rail system and the Orange County Transportation Authority, mostly operating bus routes. Attractions in the region include a number of golf courses, shopping centers and museums, the Orange County Zoo and Westminster's Little Saigon. Garden Grove's May Strawberry Festival is one of the largest events in the region.