Lassen County is a county in California, United States, on the eastern flank of the southern Cascades where the Sierra Nevada meets the Great Basin, in the northeastern part of the state. It had a population of 32,730 at the 2020 census and covers 4,541 square miles (11,762 km2) centred near 40\u00b042\u203255\u2033N 120\u00b037\u203216\u2033W, making it one of California’s largest counties by land area with one of its smallest populations.<\/p>\n
Susanville is the county seat, its postal code is 96130. The county has one incorporated city (Susanville) and roughly two dozen unincorporated communities and rural localities, several of them census-designated places. Lassen County observes Pacific time and carries FIPS code 06035.<\/p>\n
Susanville is the only incorporated city; everything else in the county is unincorporated, ranging from census-recognized places such as Herlong, Westwood and Bieber down to small ranching and railroad-siding communities. Duplicate listings from older place indexes (a repeated “Madeline” and “Stones Landing”) have been merged into single entries below.<\/p>\n
| Place<\/th>\n | Type<\/th>\n | Pop.<\/th>\n | ZIP<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n |
|---|---|---|---|
| Susanville<\/td>\n | City · seat<\/td>\n | 16,728<\/td>\n | 96130<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Westwood<\/td>\n | CDP<\/td>\n | 1,541<\/td>\n | 96137<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Bieber<\/td>\n | CDP<\/td>\n | 266<\/td>\n | 96009<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Herlong<\/td>\n | CDP<\/td>\n | 237<\/td>\n | 96113<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Janesville<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 96114<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Standish<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 96128<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Litchfield<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 96117<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Johnstonville<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Doyle<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 96109<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Milford<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 96121<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Termo<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Ravendale<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 96123<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Wendel<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Nubieber<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Hallelujah Junction<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Hayden Hill<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Little Valley<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Pumpkin Center<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Clear Creek<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Dixie<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Buntingville<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Karlo<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Constantia<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Coppervale<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Edgemont<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Halls Flat<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Horse Lake<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Hot Springs<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Jellico<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Lasco<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Leavitt<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Leonard<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Madeline<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 96119<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Moran<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Norvell<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Omira<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Plumas<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Robbers Creek<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Sage Hen<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Scotts<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Sheepshead<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Shumway<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Spalding Tract<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Spaulding<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Stacy<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Stones Landing<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Reno Junction<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| The Crossing<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Viewland<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Westwood Junction<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Herlong Junction<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\nZIP Codes<\/h2>\nMany of the county’s smallest railroad-siding and ranch communities, such as Termo, Wendel and Constantia, have no post office of their own and are served by mail from the nearest listed ZIP.<\/p>\n Geography<\/h2>\nLassen County sits at the junction of three landscapes: the volcanic tableland of the southern Cascades near Lassen Peak, the northern edge of the Sierra Nevada, and the sagebrush basins of the Great Basin to the east. Honey Lake, a large seasonal alkali lake, dominates the county’s southeastern lowlands near Susanville, and the Susan River and Willow Creek drain the county’s western valleys. Elevations range from around 4,000 feet in the Honey Lake basin to over 8,000 feet in the Diamond Mountains and near Eagle Lake.<\/p>\n Lassen County borders Modoc County to the north, Washoe County, Nevada to the east, Sierra County to the southeast, Plumas County to the south, and Shasta County to the west.<\/p>\n Demographics<\/h2>\nLassen County had 32,730 residents at the 2020 census. Susanville, with 16,728 people, is by far the largest community, followed by Westwood at 1,541. A large share of the county’s population lives inside the two state prisons and one federal prison located in and near Susanville, which has historically made Lassen one of the few California counties where incarcerated residents make up a significant fraction of the total count. The county’s median household income is about $64,395, well below the California median of $95,521. Population density is roughly 7 people per square mile, among the lowest of any California county.<\/p>\n Economy & Local Life<\/h2>\nCorrections is the county’s largest employer by far: the California Correctional Center and High Desert State Prison, both in Susanville, together with the federal Correctional Institution at Herlong, employed roughly half of Susanville’s working adults as of a 2007 count and remain the backbone of the local economy today. Beyond corrections, ranching, timber and government work (including the Lassen National Forest headquarters and Susanville Indian Rancheria) round out employment. The Sierra Army Depot at Herlong, a U.S. Army logistics and munitions storage site opened during World War II, is the county’s other major federal employer.<\/p>\n History<\/h2>\nLassen County was organized on April 1, 1864, carved out of Plumas and Shasta counties, and named for Peter Lassen, a Danish-born trapper and guide who led immigrant parties into the region in the 1850s and was killed near the Black Rock Desert in 1859. The county’s early economy centred on cattle ranching, dry farming and timber; the state prison system arrived in Susanville in the 1960s and reshaped the local economy over the following decades.<\/p>\n Getting There<\/h2>\nU.S. Route 395 runs the length of the county north to south, and State Routes 36, 44, 139 and 147 connect Susanville to the surrounding region.<\/p>\n
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