Calaveras County is a county in California, United States, roughly 40 miles east of Stockton in the Sierra Nevada foothills. It had a population of 45,292 at the 2020 census, an estimated 46,248 by 2024, and covers 1,020 square miles (2,642 km2) centred near 38\u00b013\u2032N 120\u00b033\u2032W.<\/p>\n
San Andreas is the county seat — an unincorporated community, not a city; its postal code is 95249. Angels Camp is the county’s only incorporated city. The county holds 1 city and roughly two dozen unincorporated communities, most of them census-designated places (CDPs) left unincorporated by design, and it runs on Pacific Time. Its FIPS code is 06009.<\/p>\n
Calaveras County lists 28 named places below: 1 incorporated city (Angels Camp), San Andreas as the unincorporated county seat, 21 more Census-recognized CDPs, and 5 smaller unincorporated communities with no CDP boundary of their own. CDP<\/strong> means the Census Bureau recognizes the place’s boundary and counts its population separately even though it has no city government; Unincorp.<\/strong> means the name is a locally recognized place with no separate Census population count.<\/p>\n Campo Seco was only recognized as its own CDP in the 2023 Census boundary update, so it carries no separate 2020 population figure yet. Two name pairs are worth untangling: San Andreas the town has nothing to do with the San Andreas Fault, which lies far to the west; and Rail Road Flat is written as two words on Census records, unlike most present-day “Railroad” place names.<\/p>\n Paloma, Sheep Ranch, Jenny Lind, Milton and Cave City have no ZIP code of their own; mail there is delivered under a neighboring town’s code, since none of the five ever supported a standalone post office.<\/p>\n Calaveras County climbs from the oak-studded foothills around Copperopolis and Valley Springs in the west to the granite peaks of the Sierra Nevada crest near Ebbetts Pass in the east, topping out at 8,174 feet on Corral Ridge. Land covers 1,020 square miles of the county’s 1,037 square miles total; the remaining 17 square miles is water, most of it New Melones Lake and New Hogan Lake, both reservoirs on the Stanislaus and Calaveras rivers. The county is riddled with limestone caverns — Mercer Caverns, Moaning Cavern and California Cavern all sit within a few miles of Murphys and Vallecito, cut into marble left over from the region’s mining-era quarrying.<\/p>\n Calaveras County borders Amador County to the north, Alpine County to the northeast, Tuolumne County to the south, Stanislaus County to the southwest and San Joaquin County to the west.<\/p>\n The county had a population of 45,292 at the 2020 census, estimated at 46,248 by 2024. Rancho Calaveras and Valley Springs are the two largest communities, both CDPs in the county’s western foothill belt near Highway 26. Median household income runs about $78,647, below California’s statewide figure of roughly $99,122. At 1,020 square miles of land, the county averages under 45 people per square mile — sparse even by rural-California standards, and a driver of the county’s volunteer-fire and long-commute-time profile.<\/p>\n Construction, retail trade, and health care and social assistance are the county’s three largest employment sectors, each with more than 2,000 workers. County government, the local hospital system and school districts anchor public-sector jobs around San Andreas, while tourism and wine production carry the eastern foothill towns: Murphys alone hosts more than two dozen tasting rooms along its Main Street, drawing on vineyards planted where Gold Rush miners once worked shallow claims. Copperopolis, once a Civil War-era copper-mining town that shipped more than 72 million pounds of ore, has rebuilt its economy around Lake Tulloch recreation and a planned town-center development. Angels Camp hosts the Calaveras County Fair and Jumping Frog Jubilee every May, the county’s single largest annual event.<\/p>\n Calaveras County was one of California’s original 27 counties, organized February 18, 1850. Its name is Spanish for “skulls,” reportedly given by the explorer Gabriel Moraga in 1806 after he found human remains along a local river. Henry Angel founded Angels Camp in late 1848, and the county became one of the richest strikes of the Gold Rush; hard-rock mining around Angels Camp and Carson Hill continued into the 1880s and 1890s after the easy surface gold ran out. Murphys, founded the same year as “Murphys New Diggings,” drew an estimated $20 million in gold from claims as small as eight square feet. Mark Twain spent 88 days in the county in 1865, and a tall tale he heard at the Angels Hotel became “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County,” the story that made his name nationally. Copperopolis switched the county’s mining economy from gold to copper during the Civil War, when Union demand for the metal kept its mines running around the clock; those mines closed for good in 1946.<\/p>\n No interstate highway crosses Calaveras County. State Route 4 is the main east–west corridor, running through Angels Camp, Murphys and Arnold toward Ebbetts Pass; State Route 49, California’s Gold Country highway, runs north–south through Angels Camp, San Andreas and Mokelumne Hill; Routes 12 and 26 connect the western communities to Highway 99 in the Central Valley.<\/p>\n The county’s own Calaveras County Airport near San Andreas handles general aviation only. The nearest commercial airport is Stockton Metropolitan Airport, roughly 45 miles west; Sacramento International Airport, about 90 miles northwest, has the widest range of flights. The nearest Amtrak service is the San Joaquins line’s Stockton station, connected to the county by bus.<\/p>\n Where is Calaveras County?<\/strong> What is the population of Calaveras County?<\/strong> How big is Calaveras County?<\/strong> What is the county seat of Calaveras County?<\/strong> How many towns and villages are in Calaveras County?<\/strong> What are the main ZIP codes in Calaveras County?<\/strong>\n\n
\n \nPlace<\/th>\n Type<\/th>\n Pop.<\/th>\n ZIP<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n \n Angels Camp<\/td>\n City<\/td>\n 3,667<\/td>\n 95222<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n San Andreas<\/td>\n CDP · seat<\/td>\n 2,994<\/td>\n 95249<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Rancho Calaveras<\/td>\n CDP<\/td>\n 5,590<\/td>\n 95252<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Valley Springs<\/td>\n CDP<\/td>\n 3,779<\/td>\n 95252<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Copperopolis<\/td>\n CDP<\/td>\n 3,400<\/td>\n 95228<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Arnold<\/td>\n CDP<\/td>\n 3,288<\/td>\n 95223<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Murphys<\/td>\n CDP<\/td>\n 1,995<\/td>\n 95247<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Forest Meadows<\/td>\n CDP<\/td>\n 1,276<\/td>\n 95247<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Mokelumne Hill<\/td>\n CDP<\/td>\n 691<\/td>\n 95245<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n West Point<\/td>\n CDP<\/td>\n 688<\/td>\n 95255<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Avery<\/td>\n CDP<\/td>\n 636<\/td>\n 95224<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Dorrington<\/td>\n CDP<\/td>\n 519<\/td>\n 95223<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Wallace<\/td>\n CDP<\/td>\n 479<\/td>\n 95254<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Vallecito<\/td>\n CDP<\/td>\n 442<\/td>\n 95251<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Rail Road Flat<\/td>\n CDP<\/td>\n 316<\/td>\n 95248<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Mountain Ranch<\/td>\n CDP<\/td>\n 223<\/td>\n 95246<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Campo Seco<\/td>\n CDP<\/td>\n —<\/td>\n 95226<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Douglas Flat<\/td>\n CDP<\/td>\n —<\/td>\n 95229<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Glencoe<\/td>\n CDP<\/td>\n —<\/td>\n 95232<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Hathaway Pines<\/td>\n CDP<\/td>\n —<\/td>\n 95233<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Wilseyville<\/td>\n CDP<\/td>\n —<\/td>\n 95257<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Paloma<\/td>\n CDP<\/td>\n —<\/td>\n —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Sheep Ranch<\/td>\n CDP<\/td>\n —<\/td>\n —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Altaville<\/td>\n Unincorp.<\/td>\n —<\/td>\n 95221<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Burson<\/td>\n Unincorp.<\/td>\n —<\/td>\n 95225<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Jenny Lind<\/td>\n Unincorp.<\/td>\n —<\/td>\n —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Milton<\/td>\n Unincorp.<\/td>\n —<\/td>\n —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Cave City<\/td>\n Unincorp.<\/td>\n —<\/td>\n —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n ZIP Codes<\/h2>\n
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Geography<\/h2>\n
Demographics<\/h2>\n
Economy & Local Life<\/h2>\n
History<\/h2>\n
Getting There<\/h2>\n
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Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2>\n
\nIt’s in California’s Sierra Nevada foothills, about 40 miles east of Stockton, bordered by Amador, Alpine, Tuolumne, Stanislaus and San Joaquin counties.<\/p>\n
\n45,292 at the 2020 census, estimated at 46,248 by 2024.<\/p>\n
\n1,020 square miles of land (2,642 km2), plus 17 square miles of water — mostly New Melones and New Hogan lakes.<\/p>\n
\nSan Andreas, an unincorporated community; the county’s only incorporated city is Angels Camp.<\/p>\n
\nOne incorporated city and 22 Census-recognized CDPs, plus a handful of smaller unincorporated places with no CDP boundary.<\/p>\n
\n95222 (Angels Camp), 95249 (San Andreas), 95252 (Valley Springs), 95228 (Copperopolis) and 95247 (Murphys) cover most of the population.<\/p>\n