Aptos, California
24 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1912 and the latest in 1983. It stands in the Santa Cruz census division. It lies in ZIP code area 95003. It stands on Trout Creek. The Survey maps it on the Soquel quadrangle. 6,664 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 108 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1912 to 1983The same ground, surveyed 71 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


Compare 1912 against another survey:
On record in Aptos
Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.
On the National Register 2 records
Bayview Hotellisted 1992
Valencia Halllisted 1984
Population over time
2 figuresAptos grew from 6,220 to 6,664 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 6,220 | |
| 2020 | 6,664 | +444 (+7%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
11 surveys from 24 printed sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1912 USGS Capitola quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1914 USGS Capitola quadrangle1:62500, 6 printings
- 1940 USGS Capitola quadrangle1:62500
- 1948 USGS Santa Cruz quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1954 USGS Soquel quadrangle1:24000, 5 printings
- 1955 USGS Santa Cruz quadrangle1:250000
- 1957 USGS Santa Cruz quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Santa Cruz quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1965 USGS Santa Cruz quadrangle1:250000
- 1974 USGS Monterey quadrangle1:250000
- 1983 USGS Monterey quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
430 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 430 fires within 5 miles of Aptos between 1992 and 2020, burning about 238 acres in total. 2 started naturally. 39 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 212 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 90 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 39 |
| Debris and open burning | 33 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 18 |
| Smoking | 14 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 13 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 8 |
| Natural | 2 |
| Other causes | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 September 2001 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | San Mateo-Santa Cruz Unit | PALMER |
| 8 September 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 6 September 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 6 September 2009 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | San Mateo-Santa Cruz Unit | not named |
| 6 September 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | San Mateo-Santa Cruz Unit | CATHEDRAL |
| 6 September 1997 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | San Mateo-Santa Cruz Unit | ZIGLER |
| 5 September 2011 | Misuse of fire by a minor | under an acre | San Mateo-Santa Cruz Unit | PORTER |
| 3 September 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
8 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 8 workings within 5 miles of Aptos: 3 producers, 3 occurrences, 2 past producers. 3 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Iron, Titanium, Metal, Chromium, Titanium. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aptos Placer | Iron, Titanium, Metal | Producer | Ilmenite, Magnetite | |
| Triumph Steel Co | Iron, Chromium, Titanium | Occurrence | ||
| Cabrillo Sand and Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Gibson Sand Fit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | Sedimentary | |
| Gibson Sand Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Santa Cruz Sand Pit and Mill | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Titus Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Occurrence | ||
| Unnamed Location | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Occurrence |
Storms near this place
4 since 2009Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Aptos in 4 storm reports between 2009 and 2021: 2 debris flow, 1 flood, 1 hail. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 2009 | Flood | Aptos | $15,000 | A fatal accident occurred just after 4:00 p.m. on northbound Highway 1 near Rio Del Mar Boulevard when a car spun out on the wet highway, went over an embankment and struck a tree. The 29-year-old male driver sustained minor injuries while the 27-year-old female passenger was fatality injured. |
| December 2012 | Debris Flow | Aptos | $1,000 | Highland Way in the Santa Cruz Mountains was blocked by a mudlside. The road was initially flooded due to heavy rain and then a mudslide ocurred shortly after. The slide blocked all traffic and closed the road. Public works estimated the road will be closed for one week. |
| January 2021 | Debris Flow | Aptos | - | A mudslide occurred in the Aptos Hills on Valencia School Rd around midnight. A 50 foot section of a rain soaked roadway gave way and a PG&E rig fell about 150 feet down the hillside https://www.ksbw.com/article/santa-cruz-utility-worker-tumbles-down-150-foot-hillside-during-landslide/35369366. |
| March 2021 | Hail | Aptos | - | Image on social media shows small hail in Aptos. |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rio Del Mar | 0.6 miles | 24 | |
| Farley (historical) | 0.7 miles | 24 | |
| Seacliff | 0.9 miles | 24 | |
| Monte Toyon | 1.3 miles | 24 | |
| Rob Roy Junction | 1.4 miles | 27 | |
| New Brighton (historical) | 1.9 miles | 24 | |
| Aptos Hills | 2.2 miles | 27 | |
| Leonard (historical) | 2.7 miles | 27 |
Elsewhere
Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.
| Wikipedia article on Aptos | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q622269 | The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0). |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 1657939. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.










