{"id":788,"date":"2023-01-20T09:22:31","date_gmt":"2023-01-20T09:22:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/?p=788"},"modified":"2026-08-07T10:25:02","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T10:25:02","slug":"ventura-county","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/ventura-county\/","title":{"rendered":"Ventura County, California"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Ventura County is a county in California, United States, about 65 miles west-northwest of Los<br \/>\nAngeles. It had a population of 843,843 at the 2020 census, an estimated 830,851 by 2025, and<br \/>\ncovers 1,843 square miles (4,770 km2) of land centred near 34\u00b022\u2032N 119\u00b009\u2032W.<\/p>\n<p>Ventura is the county seat, though Oxnard is the county&#8217;s largest city. Its postal code is 93001.<br \/>\nThe county holds 10 incorporated cities and roughly two dozen unincorporated communities, and it<br \/>\nruns on Pacific Time. Its FIPS code is 06111. California has no civil townships, so every place<br \/>\nbelow answers directly to city hall or, if unincorporated, to the county Board of Supervisors.<\/p>\n<h2>Towns &amp; Villages in Ventura County<\/h2>\n<p>Ventura County has 10 incorporated cities, ranging from Oxnard&#8217;s 202,063 residents down to<br \/>\nOjai&#8217;s 7,637, plus more than a dozen census-recognized unincorporated communities. CDP stands<br \/>\nfor census designated place &#8212; a named community with no city 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>Oxnard<\/td>\n<td>City<\/td>\n<td>202,063<\/td>\n<td>93030&#8211;93036<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Thousand Oaks<\/td>\n<td>City<\/td>\n<td>126,966<\/td>\n<td>91320, 91359&#8211;91362<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Simi Valley<\/td>\n<td>City<\/td>\n<td>126,356<\/td>\n<td>93062&#8211;93065, 93093&#8211;93099<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Ventura<\/td>\n<td>City &middot; seat<\/td>\n<td>110,763<\/td>\n<td>93001&#8211;93004<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Camarillo<\/td>\n<td>City<\/td>\n<td>70,741<\/td>\n<td>93010&#8211;93012<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Moorpark<\/td>\n<td>City<\/td>\n<td>36,284<\/td>\n<td>93021<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Santa Paula<\/td>\n<td>City<\/td>\n<td>30,657<\/td>\n<td>93060&#8211;93061<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Port Hueneme<\/td>\n<td>City<\/td>\n<td>21,954<\/td>\n<td>93041&#8211;93044<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Fillmore<\/td>\n<td>City<\/td>\n<td>16,419<\/td>\n<td>93015&#8211;93016<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Ojai<\/td>\n<td>City<\/td>\n<td>7,637<\/td>\n<td>93023&#8211;93024<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p>Beyond the 10 cities, these are the county&#8217;s largest unincorporated communities:<\/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>El Rio<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>7,037<\/td>\n<td>93030<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Mira Monte<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>6,618<\/td>\n<td>93023<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Oak View<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>6,215<\/td>\n<td>93022<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Meiners Oaks<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>3,911<\/td>\n<td>93023<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Santa Rosa Valley<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>3,312<\/td>\n<td>93012<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Casa Conejo<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>3,267<\/td>\n<td>91320<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Channel Islands Beach<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>2,870<\/td>\n<td>93035<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Piru<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>2,587<\/td>\n<td>93040<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Bell Canyon<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>1,946<\/td>\n<td>91307<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Lake Sherwood<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>1,759<\/td>\n<td>91361<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Somis<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>1,429<\/td>\n<td>93066<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Saticoy<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>1,133<\/td>\n<td>93004<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Casitas Springs<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>93001<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p>Roughly 15 more named places sit outside these tables &#8212; mobile-home parks, farm crossroads<br \/>\nand historic rail sidings such as Arbolada, Bardsdale, Camulos and Wheeler Springs &#8212; without<br \/>\na current census population count. This page drops the county&#8217;s old settlement list, which<br \/>\nmixed genuine communities with dozens of individually named mobile-home parks and listed Somis<br \/>\ntwice; every place kept here is a real incorporated city or a Census Bureau&#8211;recognized CDP.<br \/>\nOne naming note: the city known simply as Ventura is legally still &#8220;San Buenaventura,&#8221;<br \/>\nits 1866 incorporation name, though the city itself uses &#8220;Ventura&#8221; on all signage and<br \/>\ncorrespondence.<\/p>\n<h2>ZIP Codes<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>93030&#8211;93036 &#8212; Oxnard, also covering El Rio<\/li>\n<li>91320, 91359&#8211;91362 &#8212; Thousand Oaks, also covering Casa Conejo<\/li>\n<li>93062&#8211;93065, 93093&#8211;93099 &#8212; Simi Valley<\/li>\n<li>93001&#8211;93004 &#8212; Ventura, also covering Saticoy and Casitas Springs<\/li>\n<li>93010&#8211;93012 &#8212; Camarillo, also covering Santa Rosa Valley<\/li>\n<li>93021 &#8212; Moorpark<\/li>\n<li>93060&#8211;93061 &#8212; Santa Paula<\/li>\n<li>93041&#8211;93044 &#8212; Port Hueneme<\/li>\n<li>93015&#8211;93016 &#8212; Fillmore<\/li>\n<li>93023&#8211;93024 &#8212; Ojai, also covering Mira Monte and Meiners Oaks<\/li>\n<li>93022 &#8212; Oak View<\/li>\n<li>93035 &#8212; Channel Islands Beach<\/li>\n<li>93040 &#8212; Piru<\/li>\n<li>91307 &#8212; Bell Canyon (shares the West Hills ZIP across the Los Angeles County line)<\/li>\n<li>91361 &#8212; Lake Sherwood<\/li>\n<li>93066 &#8212; Somis<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Small hamlets such as Bardsdale and Sespe have no ZIP code of their own; mail there is<br \/>\ndelivered under the nearest incorporated city&#8217;s code.<\/p>\n<h2>Geography<\/h2>\n<p>Ventura County spans the Transverse Ranges, one of the few east&#8211;west mountain systems in<br \/>\nNorth America, running from the Topatopa Mountains near Ojai through the Santa Susana Mountains<br \/>\non the county&#8217;s eastern edge. Between the ranges, the flat Oxnard Plain carries the county&#8217;s<br \/>\nbiggest farm belt down to the Pacific. Of the county&#8217;s 2,208 square miles, 365 are water,<br \/>\nmostly ocean; the Santa Clara River, the county&#8217;s longest waterway, runs from Los Angeles<br \/>\nCounty through Piru, Fillmore and Santa Paula before reaching the sea at Oxnard. Lake Casitas,<br \/>\nabove Ojai, and Lake Piru, above the town of Piru, are the county&#8217;s two largest reservoirs.<br \/>\nAnacapa Island, part of Channel Islands National Park, lies offshore and is the only one of the<br \/>\npark&#8217;s five islands that falls within Ventura County.<\/p>\n<p>Santa Barbara County borders Ventura to the northwest, Kern County lies to the northeast, and<br \/>\nLos Angeles County borders it to the east and southeast. <a\nhref=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/santa-barbara-county\/\">Santa Barbara County<\/a>, <a\nhref=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/kern-county\/\">Kern County<\/a> and <a\nhref=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/los-angeles-county\/\">Los Angeles County<\/a> all share a<br \/>\nland border with Ventura, and the Pacific Ocean forms its remaining edge.<\/p>\n<h2>Demographics<\/h2>\n<p>Ventura County had a population of 843,843 at the 2020 census, and the latest estimate puts<br \/>\nthe county near 830,851 residents, a slight decline. Oxnard and Thousand Oaks are the two<br \/>\nlargest cities, together holding well over a third of the county&#8217;s population. Median<br \/>\nhousehold income runs $109,797, well above California&#8217;s statewide figure of $95,521.<br \/>\nPopulation density works out to about 458 people per square mile of land, concentrated along the<br \/>\nUS 101 corridor from Oxnard through Camarillo, Thousand Oaks and Simi Valley, with the eastern<br \/>\nmountains and national forest land holding almost no year-round residents.<\/p>\n<h2>Economy &amp; Local Life<\/h2>\n<p>Health care and social assistance employs the most workers in the county, about 51,413 people,<br \/>\nfollowed by retail trade at 42,317 and manufacturing at 41,812. Amgen, the world&#8217;s largest<br \/>\nindependent biotechnology company, is headquartered on a campus in Thousand Oaks. Naval Base<br \/>\nVentura County, spanning Point Mugu and Port Hueneme, has historically employed over 19,000<br \/>\nmilitary and civilian personnel, making it one of the county&#8217;s largest single employers. The<br \/>\nPort of Hueneme handles agricultural exports and imported bananas and is the only deep-water port<br \/>\nbetween Los Angeles and San Francisco Bay. Oxnard&#8217;s surrounding fields make Ventura County<br \/>\none of California&#8217;s leading strawberry-growing counties, and Santa Paula still brands itself<br \/>\nthe &#8220;Citrus Capital of the World&#8221; from its 19th-century orange groves. The county&#8217;s<br \/>\nbiggest annual event is the Ventura County Fair, held each August at the Ventura fairgrounds.<\/p>\n<h2>History<\/h2>\n<p>California&#8217;s legislature formed Ventura County on 1 January 1873, splitting it off from<br \/>\nSanta Barbara County. The name comes from Mission San Buenaventura, founded in 1782 and named<br \/>\nfor Saint Bonaventure; Ventura, the city that grew up around the mission, became the county seat.<\/p>\n<p>Just before midnight on 12 March 1928, the St. Francis Dam in neighboring Los Angeles County<br \/>\ncollapsed, sending a wall of water down the Santa Clara River valley. The flood heavily damaged<br \/>\nFillmore, Bardsdale and Santa Paula before reaching the ocean at Oxnard, killing at least 431<br \/>\npeople &#8212; one of the deadliest civil engineering disasters in American history. Nearly 90<br \/>\nyears later, the Thomas Fire of December 2017 burned about 281,893 acres across Ventura and<br \/>\nSanta Barbara counties, at the time the largest wildfire in modern California history, and<br \/>\ncaused more than $2.2 billion in damage.<\/p>\n<h2>Getting There<\/h2>\n<p>No interstate highway crosses Ventura County. US Route 101 is the main corridor, running<br \/>\nsoutheast to northwest through Camarillo, Ventura and on toward Santa Barbara. State Routes 1,<br \/>\n23, 33, 34, 118, 126, 150 and 232 connect the county&#8217;s other cities and canyons.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Los Angeles &#8212; about 65 miles southeast<\/li>\n<li>Santa Barbara &#8212; about 30 miles northwest<\/li>\n<li>Bakersfield &#8212; about 60 miles northeast<\/li>\n<li>Santa Clarita &#8212; about 25 miles east<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Hollywood Burbank Airport, about 45 miles southeast of Ventura, is the nearest major<br \/>\ncommercial airport; Los Angeles International Airport is about 65 miles away. Oxnard Airport and<br \/>\nCamarillo Airport handle general aviation and charter flights. Amtrak&#8217;s Pacific Surfliner<br \/>\nand Metrolink&#8217;s Ventura County Line both stop at stations in Oxnard, Ventura, Camarillo,<br \/>\nMoorpark and Simi Valley.<\/p>\n<h2>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Where is Ventura County located?<\/strong><br \/>\nIt sits on California&#8217;s South Coast about 65 miles west-northwest of Los Angeles, bordered<br \/>\nby Santa Barbara, Kern and Los Angeles counties and the Pacific Ocean.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is the population of Ventura County?<\/strong><br \/>\n843,843 at the 2020 census, with a 2025 estimate near 830,851.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How big is Ventura County?<\/strong><br \/>\n2,208 square miles in total, of which 1,843 square miles (4,770 km2) are land.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is the county seat of Ventura County?<\/strong><br \/>\nVentura, incorporated in 1866, is the county seat, though Oxnard is the largest city by<br \/>\npopulation.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How many towns and cities are in Ventura County?<\/strong><br \/>\nTen incorporated cities &#8212; Oxnard, Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley, Ventura, Camarillo, Moorpark,<br \/>\nSanta Paula, Port Hueneme, Fillmore and Ojai &#8212; plus more than a dozen unincorporated<br \/>\ncommunities including El Rio, Mira Monte and Oak View.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What ZIP codes does Ventura County use?<\/strong><br \/>\n93030&#8211;93036 for Oxnard, 91320 and 91359&#8211;91362 for Thousand Oaks, 93062&#8211;93099 for<br \/>\nSimi Valley, 93001&#8211;93004 for Ventura, and separate ranges for each of the county&#8217;s<br \/>\nother cities.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is Ventura County known for?<\/strong><br \/>\nAmgen&#8217;s Thousand Oaks headquarters, Naval Base Ventura County, strawberry farming on the<br \/>\nOxnard Plain, and the 2017 Thomas Fire, once California&#8217;s largest wildfire on record.<\/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>Ventura County is a county in California, United States, about 65 miles west-northwest of Los Angeles. It had a population of 843,843 at the 2020 census, an estimated 830,851 by 2025, and covers 1,843 square miles (4,770 km2) of land centred near 34\u00b022\u2032N 119\u00b009\u2032W. Ventura is the county seat, though Oxnard is the county&#8217;s largest [&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 Ventura County, California","_seopress_titles_desc":"All 10 cities and 12 unincorporated communities in Ventura County, California - population, type and ZIP for each, plus history and geography.","_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-788","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\/788","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=788"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/788\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9232,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/788\/revisions\/9232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}