{"id":721,"date":"2023-01-19T06:02:24","date_gmt":"2023-01-19T06:02:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/?p=721"},"modified":"2026-08-07T13:07:41","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T13:07:41","slug":"mendocino-county","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/mendocino-county\/","title":{"rendered":"Mendocino County, California"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mendocino County is a county in California, United States, on the North Coast about 110 miles
\nnorth of San Francisco. It had a population of 91,601 at the 2020 census, an estimated 88,122 by
\n2025, and covers 3,878 square miles (10,040 km2) centred near 39\u00b028\u2032N 123\u00b024\u2032W.<\/p>\n

Ukiah is the county seat; its postal code is 95482. The county holds 4 incorporated cities and
\ndozens of unincorporated communities strung along US 101 and the coast, and it runs on Pacific
\nTime. Its FIPS code is 06045.<\/p>\n

Towns & Villages in Mendocino County<\/h2>\n

Mendocino County has 4 incorporated cities and more than a dozen census-recognized communities
\nwith 2020 population figures, plus many smaller unincorporated places — ranches, mill sites
\nand rural crossroads — too small for the Census Bureau to track separately. CDP stands for
\ncensus designated place; Unincorp. covers hamlets and named localities with no Census Bureau
\npopulation count of their own.<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Place<\/th>\nType<\/th>\nPop.<\/th>\nZIP<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Ukiah<\/td>\nCity · seat<\/td>\n16,075<\/td>\n95482<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Fort Bragg<\/td>\nCity<\/td>\n6,983<\/td>\n95437<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Willits<\/td>\nCity<\/td>\n4,988<\/td>\n95490<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Point Arena<\/td>\nCity<\/td>\n460<\/td>\n95468<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Brooktrails<\/td>\nCDP<\/td>\n3,632<\/td>\n95490<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Redwood Valley<\/td>\nCDP<\/td>\n1,843<\/td>\n95470<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Covelo<\/td>\nCDP<\/td>\n1,394<\/td>\n95428<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Laytonville<\/td>\nCDP<\/td>\n1,152<\/td>\n95454<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Boonville<\/td>\nCDP<\/td>\n1,018<\/td>\n95415<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Talmage<\/td>\nCDP<\/td>\n986<\/td>\n95481<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Mendocino<\/td>\nCDP<\/td>\n932<\/td>\n95460<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Calpella<\/td>\nCDP<\/td>\n799<\/td>\n95418<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Potter Valley<\/td>\nCDP<\/td>\n665<\/td>\n95469<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Hopland<\/td>\nCDP<\/td>\n661<\/td>\n95449<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Philo<\/td>\nCDP<\/td>\n319<\/td>\n95466<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Comptche<\/td>\nCDP<\/td>\n167<\/td>\n95427<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Leggett<\/td>\nCDP<\/td>\n77<\/td>\n95585<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Little River<\/td>\nCDP<\/td>\n94<\/td>\n95456<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Caspar<\/td>\nUnincorp.<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n95420<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Albion<\/td>\nUnincorp.<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n95410<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Elk<\/td>\nUnincorp.<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n95432<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Gualala<\/td>\nUnincorp.<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n95445<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Anchor Bay<\/td>\nUnincorp.<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n95445<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Manchester<\/td>\nUnincorp.<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n95459<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Yorkville<\/td>\nUnincorp.<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n95494<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Westport<\/td>\nUnincorp.<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n95488<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Piercy<\/td>\nUnincorp.<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n95467<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Navarro<\/td>\nUnincorp.<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Cleone<\/td>\nUnincorp.<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Dos Rios<\/td>\nUnincorp.<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

The 2020 count above is a lower bound on how many named places exist in Mendocino County. The
\nold version of this page listed more than 140 entries, but many were not communities at all —
\nindividual ranch addresses like “Bredehoft Place” and “Card Place,” mobile
\nhome parks such as Caravan MH Park and Wagon Wheel MH Park, and one duplicate line (“Soda
\nSprings” twice). Those are dropped here rather than presented as if they were towns. Two
\ncoastal names are easy to confuse: Anchor Bay and Gualala sit a few miles apart on Highway 1 and
\nshare the same 95445 ZIP code, and Albion and Little River are separate unincorporated villages
\nabout three miles apart, both south of Fort Bragg on the same stretch of coast.<\/p>\n

Geography<\/h2>\n

Mendocino County sits on California’s North Coast, a rugged belt of redwood-forested
\nmountains, coastal bluffs and inland valleys between San Francisco Bay and the Oregon border
\nregion. Of its 3,878 square miles, 3,506 are land and 372 are water, close to 10 percent —
\nhigh for an inland-heavy county, reflecting the Pacific coastline running the county’s full
\nwestern edge plus Lake Mendocino, a reservoir on the Russian River north of Ukiah. The Eel River
\ndrains the county’s northern half and the Russian River its southern interior; the coast
\nitself is largely undeveloped bluff and beach, including the Lost Coast’s southern reach
\nnear Usal.<\/p>\n

Humboldt County lies to the north, Trinity County to the northeast, Tehama and Glenn counties
\nto the east, Lake County to the southeast, and Sonoma County to the south. \nhref=”https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/tehama-county\/”>Tehama County<\/a>, \nhref=”https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/glenn-county\/”>Glenn County<\/a>, \nhref=”https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/lake-county\/”>Lake County<\/a> and \nhref=”https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/sonoma-county\/”>Sonoma County<\/a> all have their own pages on
\nthis site; Humboldt County and Trinity County do not, as no live Mendocino-bordering post exists
\nfor either at this time.<\/p>\n

Demographics<\/h2>\n

Mendocino County had a population of 91,601 at the 2020 census, and the latest estimate puts
\nthe county near 88,122 residents by 2025, a decline typical of rural North Coast counties over
\nthe period. Ukiah and Fort Bragg are the two largest communities, together holding roughly a
\nquarter of the county’s population. Median household income runs $68,092 (2024 estimate),
\nbelow California’s statewide 2023 ACS figure of $95,521. Population density works out to
\nroughly 26 people per square mile of land, among the lowest of California’s coastal
\ncounties.<\/p>\n

Economy & Local Life<\/h2>\n

Health care and social assistance is the county’s largest employment sector, with about
\n5,487 workers, followed by retail trade at 4,223 and construction at 3,022. Ukiah Valley Medical
\nCenter and county government are the two biggest employers in the county seat. Timber and wine
\nhave long anchored the rest of the economy: Anderson Valley, around Boonville and Philo, is a
\nrecognized American Viticultural Area known for Pinot Noir, and Fort Bragg’s harbor at Noyo
\nstill supports a commercial fishing fleet built on a logging-era economy. Cannabis cultivation,
\nlong associated with the county’s share of the “Emerald Triangle” with Humboldt
\nand Trinity counties, has been estimated to account for roughly a third of local economic activity
\nin past studies. The county’s biggest annual event is the Mendocino County Fair, held in
\nBoonville each September.<\/p>\n

History<\/h2>\n

The California Legislature created Mendocino County on 18 February 1850, one of the state’s
\noriginal 27 counties. It takes its name from Cape Mendocino on the county’s northern coast,
\nitself probably named for Antonio de Mendoza, viceroy of New Spain from 1535 to 1542. Ukiah became
\nthe county seat as the interior filled with settlers along the Russian River valley.<\/p>\n

The county’s inland north holds a difficult chapter of that settlement. What is now the
\nRound Valley Indian Reservation near Covelo began in 1856 as the Nome Cult Farm, and in 1863 several
\nhundred Concow Maidu people were forcibly marched roughly 100 miles from the Sacramento Valley to
\nRound Valley, a passage remembered as the Nome Cult Trail. President Ulysses S. Grant formally
\nestablished the reservation by executive order in 1870, and it today houses a confederation of
\nYuki, Wailaki, Concow, Little Lake, Pomo, Nomlaki and Pit River people.<\/p>\n

Getting There<\/h2>\n

US 101 runs the length of the county through Ukiah, Willits and Laytonville; no interstate
\nhighway crosses Mendocino County. State Routes 1, 20, 128, 162 and 271 branch off it, with Route 1
\ntracing the coast through Fort Bragg, Mendocino and Point Arena.<\/p>\n