Cerritos, city, Los Angeles County, southwestern California, on the San Gabriel River, near Los Angeles; incorporated 1956. Manufactures include furniture, carpets, aerospace equipment, and recreational vehicles. Formerly an agricultural center, the community was known as Dairy Valley until 1967. The city then was renamed Cerritos (Spanish, “little hills”) after a ranch established here in the 1780s. Cerritos Community College is located here. Population 52,756 (1980); 53,240 (1990); 51,488 (2000).
