Biohazard and Pathogen Disinfection in Lathrop, CA

Lathrop is a city in San Joaquin County, about 10 miles south of Stockton, that was not incorporated until July 1, 1989 - making it one of the younger cities in the Central Valley.

On September 6, 1869, the San Joaquin River Bridge at Mossdale in Lathrop was completed by the Western Pacific Railroad, finishing the last westbound link of the first transcontinental railroad to the Pacific coast, and the first through train arrived that same evening.

Throughout the 1870s Lathrop was an important division point and rail stop on the transcontinental railroad, and its population reached about 600 by 1879.

Lathrop grew slowly for a century - just 2,137 people in 1970 and 6,841 by 1990 - before exploding to 18,023 in 2010 and 28,701 at the 2020 census.

Lathrop has about 8,782 households with an unusually large average of about 4 persons per household, and 85.3% of its homes are owner-occupied, one of the highest rates in the region.

The California Department of Finance ranked Lathrop the fastest-growing city in California with a population over 30,000 for two straight years, growing 11.1% in 2023 and 5.4% in 2024, and Census estimates put its population near 42,783 by mid-2025.

Much of Lathrop's boom comes from River Islands, a master-planned community on the San Joaquin River Delta planned for about 15,000 homes, which together with the Stanford Crossing development will add more than 17,000 homes at full build-out.

Major employers including Tesla and UPS have located in Lathrop's River Islands Employment Center, drawn by its spot at the crossroads of Interstate 5 and Highway 120.

Lathrop maintains 26 parks and three recreation facilities for its fast-growing population of young families.