Fremont was incorporated in 1956 from the merger of five smaller communities: Centerville, Irvington, Mission San Jose, Niles, and Warm Springs. The area now comprising Fremont and the adjoining cities of Newark (now an enclave within Fremont) and Union City was formerly known as Washington Township. The opening of the Hub shopping center in 1962 was the first step in the development of the Central Business District. The General Motors plant opened in 1963. The City of Fremont has gradually developed civic facilities and parks. Central Park was opened in 1962, the City Government Building in 1968, Lake Elizabeth in 1969, the Library Building in 1989 and the Police Building in 1996.

With a population of 213,512, Fremont is the fourth most populous city in the San Francisco Bay Area. Fremont had the largest Afghan population in the United States in 2001, due largely to immigration by refugees fleeing the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the Afghan Civil War in the 1980s. The diverse city demographic includes many Asian and South Asian ethnic groups. Fremont also has a large deaf community, in large part due to the fact that it is home to the Northern California campus of the California School for the Deaf.

The Fremont Unified School District has five high schools, a continuation high school, an independent study program; five junior high schools (grades 7-8) and 29 elementary schools (K-6). The district operates the Mission Valley Regional Occupational Program jointly with Newark and New Haven Unified School Districts.