{"id":747,"date":"2023-01-19T08:59:15","date_gmt":"2023-01-19T08:59:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/?p=747"},"modified":"2026-07-31T18:53:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T18:53:11","slug":"san-bernardino-county","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/san-bernardino-county\/","title":{"rendered":"San Bernardino County, California"},"content":{"rendered":"

San Bernardino County is a county in California, United States, stretching from the Los
\nAngeles metro area’s eastern edge across the Mojave Desert to the Nevada and Arizona
\nborders. It had a population of 2,181,654 at the 2020 census, an estimated 2,224,091 by 2025,
\nand covers 20,105 square miles (52,072 km2) centred near 34°50′N 116°11′W
\n— making it the largest county by area in the contiguous United States, bigger than each
\nof nine individual U.S. states.<\/p>\n

San Bernardino is the county seat and its largest city; its postal code is 92401. The county
\nholds 24 incorporated cities and towns and dozens of unincorporated communities and census-
\ndesignated places, and it runs on Pacific Time. Its FIPS code is 06071.<\/p>\n

Towns & Villages in San Bernardino County<\/h2>\n

All 24 incorporated cities and towns are listed below — 22 hold city charters and two,
\nApple Valley and Yucca Valley, are legally towns. California has no civil townships, so the
\ntable carries no Township column. A second table below covers the county’s largest
\nunincorporated communities and census-designated places (CDPs); the county has dozens more,
\nmost under 3,000 residents, scattered across the mountain and desert regions.<\/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
Place<\/th>\nType<\/th>\nPop.<\/th>\nZIP<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
San Bernardino<\/td>\nCity · seat<\/td>\n222,101<\/td>\n92401<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Fontana<\/td>\nCity<\/td>\n208,407<\/td>\n92335<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Ontario<\/td>\nCity<\/td>\n175,262<\/td>\n91761<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Rancho Cucamonga<\/td>\nCity<\/td>\n174,617<\/td>\n91730<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Victorville<\/td>\nCity<\/td>\n134,826<\/td>\n92392<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Rialto<\/td>\nCity<\/td>\n103,944<\/td>\n92376<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Hesperia<\/td>\nCity<\/td>\n99,798<\/td>\n92345<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Chino<\/td>\nCity<\/td>\n91,850<\/td>\n91710<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Chino Hills<\/td>\nCity<\/td>\n78,424<\/td>\n91709<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Upland<\/td>\nCity<\/td>\n79,029<\/td>\n91786<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Apple Valley<\/td>\nTown<\/td>\n75,790<\/td>\n92307<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Redlands<\/td>\nCity<\/td>\n73,168<\/td>\n92373<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Highland<\/td>\nCity<\/td>\n56,946<\/td>\n92346<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Yucaipa<\/td>\nCity<\/td>\n54,543<\/td>\n92399<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Colton<\/td>\nCity<\/td>\n53,880<\/td>\n92324<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Adelanto<\/td>\nCity<\/td>\n38,038<\/td>\n92301<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Montclair<\/td>\nCity<\/td>\n37,884<\/td>\n91763<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Twentynine Palms<\/td>\nCity<\/td>\n28,070<\/td>\n92277<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Barstow<\/td>\nCity<\/td>\n25,407<\/td>\n92311<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Loma Linda<\/td>\nCity<\/td>\n24,808<\/td>\n92354<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Yucca Valley<\/td>\nTown<\/td>\n21,737<\/td>\n92284<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Grand Terrace<\/td>\nCity<\/td>\n13,150<\/td>\n92313<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Big Bear Lake<\/td>\nCity<\/td>\n5,046<\/td>\n92315<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Needles<\/td>\nCity<\/td>\n4,931<\/td>\n92363<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

Two pairs trip up mapping tools: Big Bear Lake (the incorporated city, population 5,046) sits
\ndirectly beside Big Bear City (an unincorporated CDP nearly three times larger, listed below) on
\nthe lake’s east shore, and Apple Valley the town is distinct from Apple Valley Village, an
\nolder name for part of the same town’s original townsite. Neither pair shares a boundary
\nwith a same-named place in another county.<\/p>\n

Largest Unincorporated Communities<\/h2>\n

The county’s CDPs outnumber its cities several times over; the 13 below are its largest
\nby 2020 census population, all in the Inland Empire foothills, the Victor Valley high desert, or
\nthe San Bernardino Mountains.<\/p>\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
Bloomington<\/td>\nCDP<\/td>\n24,339<\/td>\n92316<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Phelan<\/td>\nCDP<\/td>\n13,859<\/td>\n92371<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Big Bear City<\/td>\nCDP<\/td>\n12,738<\/td>\n92314<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Lake Arrowhead<\/td>\nCDP<\/td>\n12,401<\/td>\n92352<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Crestline<\/td>\nCDP<\/td>\n11,650<\/td>\n92325<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Muscoy<\/td>\nCDP<\/td>\n10,719<\/td>\n92407<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Spring Valley Lake<\/td>\nCDP<\/td>\n9,598<\/td>\n92395<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Mentone<\/td>\nCDP<\/td>\n9,557<\/td>\n92359<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Fort Irwin<\/td>\nCDP<\/td>\n8,096<\/td>\n92310<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Piñon Hills<\/td>\nCDP<\/td>\n7,258<\/td>\n92372<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Joshua Tree<\/td>\nCDP<\/td>\n6,489<\/td>\n92252<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Lucerne Valley<\/td>\nCDP<\/td>\n5,331<\/td>\n92356<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Wrightwood<\/td>\nCDP<\/td>\n4,720<\/td>\n92397<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

Fort Irwin is the National Training Center, an active Army post; its CDP population counts
\nsoldiers and families living on base rather than a conventional civilian town. Smaller named
\nplaces not tallied above — Landers, Morongo Valley, Homestead Valley, Silver Lakes, Yermo,
\nBaker, Helendale, Oak Hills, Running Springs and Trona among them — each hold under 5,700
\nresidents.<\/p>\n

ZIP Codes<\/h2>\n

ZIPs cluster into four bands. The Inland Empire cities in the southwest run roughly 91701
\nthrough 91786 (Rancho Cucamonga, Upland, Montclair, Chino, Chino Hills, Ontario) and 92313
\nthrough 92410 (San Bernardino 92401–92410 and 92418, Colton 92324, Redlands 92373–92374,
\nHighland 92346, Loma Linda 92354, Yucaipa 92399, Grand Terrace 92313). The Victor Valley high
\ndesert uses 92301–92395 (Adelanto 92301, Apple Valley 92307–92308, Hesperia 92345,
\nVictorville 92392–92395, Spring Valley Lake 92395, Phelan 92371, Piñon Hills 92372).
\nThe mountain resort towns share 92314–92397 (Big Bear Lake 92315, Big Bear City 92314,
\nLake Arrowhead 92352, Crestline 92325, Wrightwood 92397, Running Springs 92382). The Mojave
\nDesert and Morongo Basin run 92277–92398 (Barstow 92311, Yermo 92398, Needles 92363,
\nTwentynine Palms 92277, Joshua Tree 92252, Yucca Valley 92284, Lucerne Valley 92356, Fort Irwin
\n92310). A handful of small mountain hamlets share their post office town’s ZIP rather than
\ncarrying one of their own.<\/p>\n

Geography<\/h2>\n

San Bernardino County spans three landscapes: the Inland Empire valley floor in the
\nsouthwest, the San Bernardino and San Gabriel Mountains across the middle, and the Mojave
\nDesert covering roughly 85 percent of the county’s land to the north and east. More than
\n80 percent of the county is federally owned — San Bernardino National Forest, Mojave
\nNational Preserve, the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center at Twentynine Palms, Fort Irwin,
\nand parts of Death Valley and Joshua Tree National Parks all lie within its borders. The
\nColorado River forms the county’s eastern edge with Arizona; Big Bear Lake, a reservoir in
\nthe San Bernardino Mountains, is the county’s largest body of water.<\/p>\n

San Bernardino County borders Los Angeles County to the west, Orange County at a short
\nsouthwestern corner, Riverside County to the south, Kern County to the northwest, and Inyo
\nCounty to the north, plus Clark County, Nevada, to the northeast and Mohave and La Paz counties,
\nArizona, to the east. See the Los
\nAngeles County<\/a>, Orange County<\/a>,
\nRiverside County<\/a>,
\nKern County<\/a> and
\nInyo County<\/a> pages for their own town
\nlists.<\/p>\n

Demographics<\/h2>\n

The county had a population of 2,181,654 at the 2020 census and an estimated 2,224,091 by
\n2025, ranking it California’s fifth most populous county. San Bernardino (222,101) and
\nFontana (208,407) are the largest communities, followed by Ontario and Rancho Cucamonga, both
\nover 174,000. Land-area density works out to roughly 109 people per square mile, though nearly
\nall residents live on the valley floor and in the Victor Valley — the desert interior is
\nsparsely populated. Median household income was $85,478 as of 2024 ACS estimates, below the
\nstatewide figure; the poverty rate stood at 13.3 percent, above the national average.<\/p>\n

Economy & Local Life<\/h2>\n

Health care and social assistance is the county’s largest employment sector at roughly
\n131,000 workers, followed by retail trade at about 120,000 and transportation and warehousing
\nat nearly 107,000 — the last reflecting the Inland Empire’s status as one of the
\ncountry’s largest logistics and distribution hubs, with Amazon and other fulfillment
\ncenters concentrated around Fontana, Rialto and San Bernardino. Major named employers include
\nStater Bros. Markets, headquartered in San Bernardino, Loma Linda University Medical Center,
\nArrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton, the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians’
\nYaamava’ Resort & Casino in Highland, and Esri, the mapping-software company
\nheadquartered in Redlands. Ontario International Airport also anchors a growing air-cargo
\nsector. The county’s largest annual event is the National Orange Show in San Bernardino,
\nheld each May since 1915.<\/p>\n

History<\/h2>\n

San Bernardino County was organized on April 26, 1853, carved from Los Angeles County. Its
\nname traces to 1810, when the Spanish missionary Francisco Dumetz named a native rancheria site
\nfor St. Bernardino of Siena. Serrano, Cahuilla, Chemehuevi and Mohave communities lived across
\nthe region long before Spanish contact; Mexican-era land grants created ranchos including
\nRancho Cucamonga in the 1830s. Mormon settlers from Utah founded the city of San Bernardino in
\n1851, and the county’s desert towns — Barstow, Victorville, Needles — grew up
\nas railroad and, later, Route 66 stops in the early 20th century; Route 66 ran the length of the
\ncounty from Cajon Pass to the Colorado River, and its decline after Interstate 40 diverted
\ntraffic left towns such as Amboy nearly empty. On December 2, 2015, a mass shooting at the
\nInland Regional Center in San Bernardino killed 14 people at a county public-health training
\nevent, one of the deadliest workplace attacks in recent U.S. history.<\/p>\n

Getting There<\/h2>\n

Interstate 10 crosses the county’s southern cities, Interstate 15 runs northeast through
\nthe Victor Valley toward Las Vegas, Interstate 40 crosses the Mojave Desert to Needles and
\nArizona, and Interstate 215 links San Bernardino to Riverside County. State Route 66 (Historic
\nRoute 66) still parallels I-40 and I-15 through Barstow, Victorville and Needles.<\/p>\n