Ventura County, California

Ventura County is a county in California, United States, about 65 miles west-northwest of Los
Angeles. It had a population of 843,843 at the 2020 census, an estimated 830,851 by 2025, and
covers 1,843 square miles (4,770 km2) of land centred near 34°22′N 119°09′W.

Ventura is the county seat, though Oxnard is the county’s largest city. Its postal code is 93001.
The county holds 10 incorporated cities and roughly two dozen unincorporated communities, and it
runs on Pacific Time. Its FIPS code is 06111. California has no civil townships, so every place
below answers directly to city hall or, if unincorporated, to the county Board of Supervisors.

Towns & Villages in Ventura County

Ventura County has 10 incorporated cities, ranging from Oxnard’s 202,063 residents down to
Ojai’s 7,637, plus more than a dozen census-recognized unincorporated communities. CDP stands
for census designated place — a named community with no city government of its own.

Beyond the 10 cities, these are the county’s largest unincorporated communities:

Roughly 15 more named places sit outside these tables — mobile-home parks, farm crossroads
and historic rail sidings such as Arbolada, Bardsdale, Camulos and Wheeler Springs — without
a current census population count. This page drops the county’s old settlement list, which
mixed genuine communities with dozens of individually named mobile-home parks and listed Somis
twice; every place kept here is a real incorporated city or a Census Bureau–recognized CDP.
One naming note: the city known simply as Ventura is legally still “San Buenaventura,”
its 1866 incorporation name, though the city itself uses “Ventura” on all signage and
correspondence.

ZIP Codes

• 93030–93036 — Oxnard, also covering El Rio
• 91320, 91359–91362 — Thousand Oaks, also covering Casa Conejo
• 93062–93065, 93093–93099 — Simi Valley
• 93001–93004 — Ventura, also covering Saticoy and Casitas Springs
• 93010–93012 — Camarillo, also covering Santa Rosa Valley
• 93021 — Moorpark
• 93060–93061 — Santa Paula
• 93041–93044 — Port Hueneme
• 93015–93016 — Fillmore
• 93023–93024 — Ojai, also covering Mira Monte and Meiners Oaks
• 93022 — Oak View
• 93035 — Channel Islands Beach
• 93040 — Piru
• 91307 — Bell Canyon (shares the West Hills ZIP across the Los Angeles County line)
• 91361 — Lake Sherwood
• 93066 — Somis

Small hamlets such as Bardsdale and Sespe have no ZIP code of their own; mail there is
delivered under the nearest incorporated city’s code.

Geography

Ventura County spans the Transverse Ranges, one of the few east–west mountain systems in
North America, running from the Topatopa Mountains near Ojai through the Santa Susana Mountains
on the county’s eastern edge. Between the ranges, the flat Oxnard Plain carries the county’s
biggest farm belt down to the Pacific. Of the county’s 2,208 square miles, 365 are water,
mostly ocean; the Santa Clara River, the county’s longest waterway, runs from Los Angeles
County through Piru, Fillmore and Santa Paula before reaching the sea at Oxnard. Lake Casitas,
above Ojai, and Lake Piru, above the town of Piru, are the county’s two largest reservoirs.
Anacapa Island, part of Channel Islands National Park, lies offshore and is the only one of the
park’s five islands that falls within Ventura County.

Santa Barbara County borders Ventura to the northwest, Kern County lies to the northeast, and
Los Angeles County borders it to the east and southeast. Santa Barbara County, Kern County and Los Angeles County all share a
land border with Ventura, and the Pacific Ocean forms its remaining edge.

Demographics

Ventura County had a population of 843,843 at the 2020 census, and the latest estimate puts
the county near 830,851 residents, a slight decline. Oxnard and Thousand Oaks are the two
largest cities, together holding well over a third of the county’s population. Median
household income runs $109,797, well above California’s statewide figure of $95,521.
Population density works out to about 458 people per square mile of land, concentrated along the
US 101 corridor from Oxnard through Camarillo, Thousand Oaks and Simi Valley, with the eastern
mountains and national forest land holding almost no year-round residents.

Economy & Local Life

Health care and social assistance employs the most workers in the county, about 51,413 people,
followed by retail trade at 42,317 and manufacturing at 41,812. Amgen, the world’s largest
independent biotechnology company, is headquartered on a campus in Thousand Oaks. Naval Base
Ventura County, spanning Point Mugu and Port Hueneme, has historically employed over 19,000
military and civilian personnel, making it one of the county’s largest single employers. The
Port of Hueneme handles agricultural exports and imported bananas and is the only deep-water port
between Los Angeles and San Francisco Bay. Oxnard’s surrounding fields make Ventura County
one of California’s leading strawberry-growing counties, and Santa Paula still brands itself
the “Citrus Capital of the World” from its 19th-century orange groves. The county’s
biggest annual event is the Ventura County Fair, held each August at the Ventura fairgrounds.

History

California’s legislature formed Ventura County on 1 January 1873, splitting it off from
Santa Barbara County. The name comes from Mission San Buenaventura, founded in 1782 and named
for Saint Bonaventure; Ventura, the city that grew up around the mission, became the county seat.

Just before midnight on 12 March 1928, the St. Francis Dam in neighboring Los Angeles County
collapsed, sending a wall of water down the Santa Clara River valley. The flood heavily damaged
Fillmore, Bardsdale and Santa Paula before reaching the ocean at Oxnard, killing at least 431
people — one of the deadliest civil engineering disasters in American history. Nearly 90
years later, the Thomas Fire of December 2017 burned about 281,893 acres across Ventura and
Santa Barbara counties, at the time the largest wildfire in modern California history, and
caused more than $2.2 billion in damage.

Getting There

No interstate highway crosses Ventura County. US Route 101 is the main corridor, running
southeast to northwest through Camarillo, Ventura and on toward Santa Barbara. State Routes 1,
23, 33, 34, 118, 126, 150 and 232 connect the county’s other cities and canyons.

• Los Angeles — about 65 miles southeast
• Santa Barbara — about 30 miles northwest
• Bakersfield — about 60 miles northeast
• Santa Clarita — about 25 miles east

Hollywood Burbank Airport, about 45 miles southeast of Ventura, is the nearest major
commercial airport; Los Angeles International Airport is about 65 miles away. Oxnard Airport and
Camarillo Airport handle general aviation and charter flights. Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner
and Metrolink’s Ventura County Line both stop at stations in Oxnard, Ventura, Camarillo,
Moorpark and Simi Valley.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Ventura County located?
It sits on California’s South Coast about 65 miles west-northwest of Los Angeles, bordered
by Santa Barbara, Kern and Los Angeles counties and the Pacific Ocean.

What is the population of Ventura County?
843,843 at the 2020 census, with a 2025 estimate near 830,851.

How big is Ventura County?
2,208 square miles in total, of which 1,843 square miles (4,770 km2) are land.

What is the county seat of Ventura County?
Ventura, incorporated in 1866, is the county seat, though Oxnard is the largest city by
population.

How many towns and cities are in Ventura County?
Ten incorporated cities — Oxnard, Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley, Ventura, Camarillo, Moorpark,
Santa Paula, Port Hueneme, Fillmore and Ojai — plus more than a dozen unincorporated
communities including El Rio, Mira Monte and Oak View.

What ZIP codes does Ventura County use?
93030–93036 for Oxnard, 91320 and 91359–91362 for Thousand Oaks, 93062–93099 for
Simi Valley, 93001–93004 for Ventura, and separate ranges for each of the county’s
other cities.

What is Ventura County known for?
Amgen’s Thousand Oaks headquarters, Naval Base Ventura County, strawberry farming on the
Oxnard Plain, and the 2017 Thomas Fire, once California’s largest wildfire on record.

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