[7][8] European settlement of the area began when Manuel Nieto was granted the land for Rancho Los Nietos, later Rancho Las Bolsas, which encompassed over 300,000 acres (1,200 km2), including present-day Fountain Valley.

Control of the land was subsequently transferred to Mexico upon independence from Spain, and then to the United States as part of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.

The Santa Ana–Huntington Beach Line of the Pacific Electric Railway passed through Talbert and opened on July 5, 1909.

The city is located southwest and northeast of the San Diego Freeway (Interstate 405), which diagonally bisects the city, and is surrounded by Huntington Beach on the south and west, Westminster and Garden Grove on the north, Santa Ana on the northeast, and Costa Mesa on the southeast.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 23.4 km2 (9.0 sq mi), 0.14% of which is water.

There were 19,164 housing units at an average density of 2,122.0 per square mile (819.3/km2), of which 13,458 (72.2%) were owner-occupied, and 5,190 (27.8%) were occupied by renters.

According to the 2010 United States Census, Fountain Valley had a median household income of $81,212, with 6.7% of the population living below the federal poverty line.

As a suburban city, most of Fountain Valley's residents commute to work in other urban centers.

Although the economy of the area was once based mainly on agriculture, the remaining production consists of several fields of strawberries or other small crops, which are gradually being replaced by new office development.

Efforts to bolster economic activity are evidenced by the city enacting policies to benefit small businesses, and even going so far as to paint a mural on the facade of a large water treatment building facing the freeway that depicts two shopping bags headlined by the words, "Shop in Fountain Valley.

The Southpark commercial area is also home to offices for companies such as D-Link, Starbucks, Satura and the Orange County Register.

In addition, Fountain Valley is the location for Noritz, a tankless water heater manufacturer, and the main west coast offices of Ceridian, a professional employer organization.

The increasing commercial growth can be evidenced by the frequent rush-hour traffic bottlenecks on the San Diego (405) Freeway through Fountain Valley.

Fountain Valley is home to Mile Square Regional Park, a 640-acre (2.6 km2) park containing two lakes, three 18-hole golf courses, playing fields, picnic shelters, and a 20-acre (81,000 m2) urban nature area planted with California native plants, a 55-acre (220,000 m2) recreation center with tennis courts, basketball courts, racquetball courts, a gymnasium, and the Kingston Boys & Girls Club; There is also a community center and a 16,652-square-foot (1,547 m2) senior center that opened in September 2005.

A major redevelopment of the recreation center and city-administered sports fields was completed in early 2009.

[56] Fountain Valley is a reliably Republican stronghold in presidential elections; however, former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton won a plurality of the city in 2016, becoming the first Democrat in over four decades to carry the municipality.

In addition to the San Diego Freeway, which bisects the city, Fountain Valley is served by several bus lines operated by the Orange County Transportation Authority.

Dedicated bike paths along the Santa Ana River run from the city of Corona to the Pacific Ocean.

Historically, Fountain Valley had Red Car service along the Santa Ana/Huntington Beach Pacific Electric Spur Line.

The Orange County Sanitation District's administrative offices and primary plant is located in Fountain Valley next to the Santa Ana River.