Milpitas, city, Santa Clara County, western California, just north of San Jose; settled 1850s, incorporated 1954. Industries here include the manufacture of plastics and electrical and electronic equipment. Before the mid-1950s Milpitas was a small farming community. Its name is Spanish for “little cornfields.” Population 37,820 (1980); 50,686 (1990); 62,698 (2000).
