{"id":703,"date":"2023-01-17T06:54:23","date_gmt":"2023-01-17T06:54:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/?p=703"},"modified":"2026-08-07T23:30:23","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T23:30:23","slug":"inyo-county","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/inyo-county\/","title":{"rendered":"Inyo County, California"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Inyo County is a county in California, United States, on the east side of the Sierra Nevada<br \/>\nbetween Yosemite National Park and the Nevada state line. It had a population of 19,016 at the<br \/>\n2020 census, an estimated 18,739 by 2024, and covers 10,181 square miles (26,370 km2) of land<br \/>\ncentred near 36\u00b035\u2032N 117\u00b025\u2032W.<\/p>\n<p>Independence is the county seat, though it is unincorporated; Bishop, 41 miles to the north, is<br \/>\nthe county&#8217;s only incorporated city and its largest community. Its postal code is 93526. Inyo<br \/>\nholds 1 incorporated city and about 20 census-recognized communities with no city government of<br \/>\ntheir own, and it runs on Pacific Time. Its FIPS code is 06027.<\/p>\n<h2>Towns &amp; Villages in Inyo County<\/h2>\n<p>Inyo County has 21 named places tracked by the Census Bureau: 1 incorporated city and 20<br \/>\ncensus-designated places (CDPs), including Independence, the unincorporated county seat. CDP<br \/>\nstands for census designated place, an unincorporated community the Census Bureau delineates for<br \/>\nstatistical purposes; it has no local government of its own.<\/p>\n<div class=\"tv-table-scroll\">\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Place<\/th>\n<th>Type<\/th>\n<th>Pop.<\/th>\n<th>ZIP<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Bishop<\/td>\n<td>City<\/td>\n<td>3,819<\/td>\n<td>93514<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Dixon Lane-Meadow Creek<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>2,780<\/td>\n<td>93514<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>West Bishop<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>2,754<\/td>\n<td>93514<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Lone Pine<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>2,014<\/td>\n<td>93545<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Big Pine<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>1,875<\/td>\n<td>93513<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Wilkerson<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>543<\/td>\n<td>93514<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Independence<\/td>\n<td>CDP &middot; seat<\/td>\n<td>593<\/td>\n<td>93526<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Mesa<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>275<\/td>\n<td>93514<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Furnace Creek<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>136<\/td>\n<td>92328<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Olancha<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>131<\/td>\n<td>93549<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Tecopa<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>120<\/td>\n<td>92389<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Keeler<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>71<\/td>\n<td>93530<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Cartago<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>62<\/td>\n<td>93549<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Charleston View<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>45<\/td>\n<td>92389<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Homewood Canyon<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>40<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Darwin<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>36<\/td>\n<td>93522<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Shoshone<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>22<\/td>\n<td>92384<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Pearsonville<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>8<\/td>\n<td>93527<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Valley Wells<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>0<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Death Valley Junction<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>92328<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p>Two of these communities have almost no residents left. Valley Wells, a Historical Landmark<br \/>\nsite where 1849 emigrants dug for water, counted zero people at the 2020 census. Death Valley<br \/>\nJunction, home to the Amargosa Opera House, has fewer than four year-round residents and no gas<br \/>\nstation. Beyond this list, Inyo County has dozens of named localities the Census Bureau does not<br \/>\ntrack as populated places &mdash; mining camps such as Cerro Gordo and Ballarat, ranger stations<br \/>\nlike Panamint Springs, and trailheads such as Whitney Portal &mdash; which have no Census<br \/>\npopulation or ZIP code of their own.<\/p>\n<h2>ZIP Codes<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>93514 &mdash; Bishop (also covers Dixon Lane-Meadow Creek, West Bishop, Wilkerson and Mesa)<\/li>\n<li>93526 &mdash; Independence<\/li>\n<li>93545 &mdash; Lone Pine<\/li>\n<li>93513 &mdash; Big Pine<\/li>\n<li>93549 &mdash; Olancha and Cartago<\/li>\n<li>93530 &mdash; Keeler<\/li>\n<li>93522 &mdash; Darwin<\/li>\n<li>92328 &mdash; Furnace Creek and Death Valley Junction<\/li>\n<li>92389 &mdash; Tecopa and Charleston View<\/li>\n<li>92384 &mdash; Shoshone<\/li>\n<li>93527 &mdash; Pearsonville<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Homewood Canyon and Valley Wells have no ZIP code of their own; mail there is handled under a<br \/>\nneighbouring town&#8217;s code.<\/p>\n<h2>Geography<\/h2>\n<p>Inyo County is California&#8217;s second-largest county by area, after San Bernardino, and its<br \/>\nterrain runs from the floor of Death Valley to the summit of Mount Whitney &mdash; the biggest<br \/>\nelevation range of any county in the United States. Nearly half the county lies inside Death<br \/>\nValley National Park. Between the Sierra Nevada and the Inyo and White Mountains runs the Owens<br \/>\nValley, a trough roughly 4,000 feet above sea level and, measured against the surrounding peaks,<br \/>\nthe deepest valley in the country. Owens Lake, on the valley floor south of Lone Pine, has been a<br \/>\ndry alkali flat since the Los Angeles Aqueduct diverted the Owens River in 1913; dust-control work<br \/>\non the lakebed continues today.<\/p>\n<p>Mono County borders Inyo to the north, Tulare County to the west across the Sierra crest, Kern<br \/>\nCounty to the southwest, San Bernardino County to the south, and the Nevada state line runs along<br \/>\nthe entire eastern edge. <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/mono-county\/\">Mono County<\/a>, <a\nhref=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/tulare-county\/\">Tulare County<\/a>, <a\nhref=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/kern-county\/\">Kern County<\/a> and <a\nhref=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/san-bernardino-county\/\">San Bernardino County<\/a> all border<br \/>\nInyo directly.<\/p>\n<h2>Demographics<\/h2>\n<p>Inyo County had a population of 19,016 at the 2020 census, and the latest estimate puts the<br \/>\ncounty near 18,739 residents, a slight decline. Bishop and the adjoining Dixon Lane-Meadow Creek<br \/>\nand West Bishop CDPs together hold well over a third of the county&#8217;s population, concentrated in<br \/>\nthe northern Owens Valley. Median household income runs about $73,991, close to California&#8217;s<br \/>\nstatewide figure of $95,521. Population density works out to roughly 1.9 people per square mile<br \/>\nof land &mdash; the second-lowest density of any California county, after neighbouring Alpine<br \/>\nCounty.<\/p>\n<h2>Economy &amp; Local Life<\/h2>\n<p>Public administration is the county&#8217;s largest employment sector, with about 1,375 workers,<br \/>\nfollowed by health care and social assistance at roughly 1,337 and educational services at about<br \/>\n842 &mdash; a reflection of how much of the county is government-owned or government-managed land,<br \/>\nfrom Death Valley National Park to Inyo National Forest. Tourism drives much of the rest of the<br \/>\nlocal economy: Lone Pine serves as the gateway to Mount Whitney, the Alabama Hills and Sequoia<br \/>\nNational Park, while Furnace Creek is the administrative and lodging center for Death Valley<br \/>\nNational Park. Bishop&#8217;s biggest annual event is Bishop Mule Days, a rodeo and mule-packing<br \/>\nfestival held over Memorial Day weekend each year since 1969, celebrating the pack mules that once<br \/>\nworked the Sierra&#8217;s mining trails.<\/p>\n<h2>History<\/h2>\n<p>California&#8217;s legislature organised Inyo County on 22 March 1866, carving it from Mono, Tulare<br \/>\nand San Bernardino counties. The name comes from a Timbisha Shoshone word roughly meaning<br \/>\n&#8220;dangerous place.&#8221; Silver, lead and zinc mining built early towns such as Cerro Gordo, Darwin and<br \/>\nKeeler, whose ore once moved out by narrow-gauge rail to Owens Lake.<\/p>\n<p>In 1913 the Los Angeles Aqueduct began diverting the Owens River south to Los Angeles, a project<br \/>\nthat dried up Owens Lake and set off decades of conflict between the valley&#8217;s ranchers and the Los<br \/>\nAngeles Department of Water and Power, remembered locally as the California Water Wars. During<br \/>\nWorld War II the federal government built the Manzanar War Relocation Center between Independence<br \/>\nand Lone Pine, where more than 11,000 Japanese Americans were incarcerated from 1942 to 1945. The<br \/>\nsite became Manzanar National Historic Site in 1992.<\/p>\n<h2>Getting There<\/h2>\n<p>U.S. Route 395 runs the length of the county north to south along the Owens Valley; U.S. Route 6<br \/>\nbranches north from Bishop, and State Routes 127, 136, 168, 178 and 190 connect the smaller towns<br \/>\nand Death Valley. No interstate highway crosses Inyo County.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Reno, Nevada &mdash; about 265 miles north via US-395<\/li>\n<li>Los Angeles &mdash; about 230 miles south via US-395<\/li>\n<li>Las Vegas, Nevada &mdash; about 165 miles southeast via SR-190 and US-95<\/li>\n<li>Fresno &mdash; about 200 miles west, over the Sierra via SR-168 or a longer southern route<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Bishop Airport, on the north edge of town, is the county&#8217;s main commercial airfield, with<br \/>\nseasonal passenger service; the Eastern Sierra Transit Authority runs intercity bus service the<br \/>\nlength of the valley. There is no Amtrak service in Inyo County; the nearest station is in<br \/>\nBakersfield.<\/p>\n<h2>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Where is Inyo County located?<\/strong><br \/>\nIt sits on the east side of the Sierra Nevada in eastern California, bordered by Mono, Tulare,<br \/>\nKern and San Bernardino counties, with Nevada along its entire eastern edge.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is the population of Inyo County?<\/strong><br \/>\n19,016 at the 2020 census, with a 2024 estimate near 18,739.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How big is Inyo County?<\/strong><br \/>\n10,181 square miles (26,370 km2) of land, California&#8217;s second-largest county by area.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is the county seat of Inyo County?<\/strong><br \/>\nIndependence is the county seat, though it is an unincorporated community rather than a city;<br \/>\nBishop is the county&#8217;s only incorporated city and its largest town.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How many towns and communities are in Inyo County?<\/strong><br \/>\nOne incorporated city, Bishop, plus 20 census-designated places including Independence, Lone<br \/>\nPine, Big Pine and the small Death Valley communities of Furnace Creek, Tecopa and Shoshone.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What ZIP codes does Inyo County use?<\/strong><br \/>\n93514 for Bishop and its neighbouring CDPs, 93526 for Independence, 93545 for Lone Pine, 93513<br \/>\nfor Big Pine, and separate codes for the smaller southern and Death Valley communities.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is Inyo County known for?<\/strong><br \/>\nDeath Valley National Park, which covers nearly half the county, Mount Whitney, the tallest peak<br \/>\nin the contiguous United States, and the Manzanar National Historic Site.<\/p>\n<p>More counties in this state: <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/category\/california\/\">Towns and villages in California<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Inyo County is a county in California, United States, on the east side of the Sierra Nevada between Yosemite National Park and the Nevada state line. It had a population of 19,016 at the 2020 census, an estimated 18,739 by 2024, and covers 10,181 square miles (26,370 km2) of land centred near 36\u00b035\u2032N 117\u00b025\u2032W. Independence [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"Towns & Villages in Inyo County, California","_seopress_titles_desc":"All 21 towns and communities in Inyo County, California - population and ZIP for each, plus Death Valley, Manzanar and Mount Whitney facts.","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[6],"class_list":["post-703","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-california","tag-towns-and-cities","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/703","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=703"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/703\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9509,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/703\/revisions\/9509"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=703"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=703"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=703"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}