Madera County, California

Madera County is a county in California, United States, about 20 miles north of Fresno. It had a population of 156,255 at the 2020 census, an estimated 167,927 by 2025, and covers 2,153 square miles (5,580 km2) centred near 37°13′N 119°46′W.

Madera is the county seat and the county’s largest city; its postal code is 93637. The county holds 2 cities, 15 census-designated places and a handful of smaller unincorporated communities, and it runs on Pacific Time. Its FIPS code is 06039.

Towns & Villages in Madera County

Madera County has 17 named places with a Census Bureau population count on record: 2 incorporated cities and 15 census-designated places (CDPs), each an unincorporated community with its own boundary drawn for census purposes. A further handful of named communities — Raymond, O’Neals, Knowles, Sugar Pine and Sumner Hill among them — are historic mining or lumber-camp settlements with no separate population count of their own.

Two pairs of names on this list need a note. Bonadelle Ranchos and Madera Ranchos were a single CDP, Bonadelle Ranchos–Madera Ranchos, through the 2010 census; the Census Bureau split them into two separate CDPs for 2020, and each stands on its own in the table above. Nipinnawasee and Ahwahnee share ZIP code 93601 because the 1961 Harlow Fire destroyed most of both communities and Nipinnawasee never got its own post office back. A few names that appeared on this page’s old settlement list — Ahwahnee Estates, Bass Lake Annex, Bonadelle Ranchos Five and Bonadelle Ranchos Nine — are informal subdivision names inside the CDPs above, not separate Census Bureau places, and are not repeated here.

ZIP Codes

• 93637 — Madera (also serves Madera Acres and Parkwood)
• 93636 — Bonadelle Ranchos and Madera Ranchos
• 93610 — Chowchilla (also serves Fairmead)
• 93638 — Parksdale
• 93644 — Oakhurst
• 93614 — Coarsegold and Yosemite Lakes
• 93601 — Ahwahnee and Nipinnawasee
• 93643 — North Fork
• 93604 / 93669 — Bass Lake
• 93653 — Raymond

Rolling Hills and La Vina have no ZIP code of their own; the Postal Service delivers mail there under a neighboring town’s code. Knowles, Sugar Pine and Sumner Hill, the county’s old lumber-camp names, are likewise served out of the nearest post office rather than one of their own.

Geography

Madera County spans the transition between California’s Central Valley and the Sierra Nevada, running from flat farmland in the west up through oak-studded foothills to granite peaks along the Sierra crest in the east. Of its 2,153 square miles, 2,137 are land and 16 are water, under 1 percent, since the county has no large natural lake; Bass Lake, its main body of water, is a reservoir built in 1910 behind Crane Valley Dam on Willow Creek. The county’s northeast corner holds the southernmost stretch of Yosemite National Park, and much of its eastern half lies inside Sierra National Forest. Mount Ritter, at 13,149 feet, is the county’s highest point.

Mariposa County lies to the north, Mono County to the east across the Sierra crest, Fresno County to the south, and Merced and Stanislaus counties to the west. Mariposa County, Mono County, Fresno County, Merced County and Stanislaus County all border Madera directly.

Demographics

Madera County had a population of 156,255 at the 2020 census, and the latest estimate puts the county near 167,927 residents. Madera and Chowchilla are the two largest communities, together home to well over half the county’s population. Median household income runs $76,627 (ACS 5-year estimate), below California’s statewide figure of $95,521 (2023 ACS). Population density works out to roughly 73 people per square mile of land, low for California, reflecting the county’s mostly rural and mountainous geography outside the Highway 99 corridor.

Economy & Local Life

Health care and social assistance employs the most workers in the county, about 8,379 people, followed by agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting at 7,764 and educational services at 6,097. Almonds, grapes and pistachios are the leading crops, and the county’s growers produced a combined crop value over $1.9 billion in 2022. Two California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation prisons near Chowchilla, Central California Women’s Facility and Valley State Prison, together make up one of the largest blocks of state employment in the county; Central California Women’s Facility also holds the state’s female death row. Madera Community College and Madera Unified School District are among the county’s other large employers. Oakhurst, at the southern gateway to Yosemite National Park, anchors the county’s tourism trade. Coarsegold has run its rodeo every year since 1953.

History

California’s legislature created Madera County on 16 May 1893, after Fresno-area voters approved splitting it off from Fresno County by a vote of 1,179 to 358. The name comes from the Spanish word for wood, after the lumber industry that built the town of Madera around a 65-mile log flume the California Lumber Company ran down from the Sierra Nevada starting in 1876. Gold mining also drew early settlers, chiefly around Grub Gulch. Logging declined during the Great Depression, and agriculture took over as the county’s main industry by the mid-20th century. Dust Bowl migrants in the 1930s and Bracero Program farm workers during and after World War II added to the county’s population and shaped its farm towns.

On 15 July 1976, three armed men hijacked a school bus carrying 26 children and their driver from Chowchilla and held them buried underground for 16 hours before all escaped unharmed — one of the era’s most notorious kidnappings.

Getting There

No interstate highway crosses Madera County. State Route 99 runs the length of the valley floor through Madera and Chowchilla, State Route 41 climbs from Madera through Oakhurst and Coarsegold toward Yosemite’s south entrance, and State Routes 145 and 152 cross the county’s western and northern edges.

• Fresno — about 20 miles south
• Merced — about 30 miles northwest
• Mariposa — about 35 miles north
• Yosemite National Park’s south entrance — about 45 miles northeast of Madera

Fresno Yosemite International Airport, about 25 miles south of Madera, is the nearest major commercial airport; Madera Municipal Airport handles general aviation. Amtrak trains stop at the Madera station, on the San Joaquins line, connecting to Fresno, Sacramento and Bay Area cities.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Madera County located?
It sits in central California between the San Joaquin Valley and the Sierra Nevada, about 20 miles north of Fresno, bordered by Mariposa, Mono, Fresno, Merced and Stanislaus counties.

What is the population of Madera County?
156,255 at the 2020 census, with a 2025 estimate near 167,927.

How big is Madera County?
2,153 square miles (5,580 km2), of which 2,137 square miles are land.

What is the county seat of Madera County?
Madera, the county’s largest city, is the county seat.

How many towns and cities are in Madera County?
Two incorporated cities, Madera and Chowchilla, plus 15 census-designated places including Oakhurst, Coarsegold and North Fork.

What ZIP codes does Madera County use?
93637 and 93636 for Madera and its surrounding CDPs, 93610 for Chowchilla, 93644 for Oakhurst, 93614 for Coarsegold and Yosemite Lakes, and 93601 for Ahwahnee and Nipinnawasee, among others.

What is Madera County known for?
Almond, grape and pistachio farming; the southern gateway to Yosemite National Park at Oakhurst; and the two state prisons near Chowchilla.

More counties in this state: Towns and villages in California.