Bombay Beach, California
22 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1940 and the latest in 2002. It stands in the East Imperial census division. It lies in ZIP code area 92257. The Survey maps it on the Frink quadrangle. 231 people lived here at the 2020 count. It lies 223 feet below sea level.
Then and now
1940 to 2002The same ground, surveyed 62 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


Population over time
2 figuresBombay Beach fell from 295 to 231 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 | 295 | |
| 2020 | 231 | -64 (-22%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
13 surveys from 22 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.
- 1940 USGS Frink quadrangle1:62500
- 1944 USGS Frink quadrangle1:62500
- 1954 USGS Salton Sea quadrangle1:250000
- 1955 USGS Salton Sea quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1956 USGS Frink quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1956 USGS Frink quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1959 USGS Salton Sea quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1963 USGS Salton Sea quadrangle1:250000
- 1965 USGS Salton Sea quadrangle1:250000
- 1985 USGS Salton Sea quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
- 1992 USGS Frink quadrangle1:24000
- 1998 USGS Frink quadrangle1:24000
- 2002 USGS Frink quadrangle1:50000
Fires near this place
3 since 1998Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 3 fires within 5 miles of Bombay Beach between 1998 and 2008, burning about 192 acres in total. None started naturally. 1 was 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 | 1 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 1 |
| Firearms and explosives use | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 May 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Merced-Mariposa Unit | CARLUCCI |
| 1 March 2008 | Firearms and explosives use | 41 acres | California Desert District | TRILEY |
| 16 December 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 150 acres | California Desert District | BOMBAY |
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 Bombay Beach: 8 past producers. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Bromine, Sodium, Sodium, Sodium, Bromine. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bertram | Bromine, Sodium | Past Producer | 1903 | |
| Bertram Mine | Sodium | Past Producer | ||
| Imperial Salt Works | Sodium, Bromine | Past Producer | 1930 | |
| Imperial Salt Works | Salt | Past Producer | ||
| Orange Co Rock Co Inc | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | Sedimentary | |
| Orange Co Rock Co Inc | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Unnamed Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Unnamed Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pope | 1.1 miles | 22 | |
| Bertram | 3.4 miles | 21 | |
| Frink | 4.4 miles | 22 | |
| Wister | 7.1 miles | 22 | |
| Mundo | 10.0 miles | 22 | |
| Salton City | 12.5 miles | 20 | |
| Squeaky Springs (historical) | 13.2 miles | 20 | |
| Niland | 13.5 miles | 22 |
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 Bombay Beach | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2395774 | 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 1667823. 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.












