Brawley, California
20 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1915 and the latest in 1989. It stands in the Brawley census division. It lies in ZIP code area 92227. The Survey maps it on the Brawley quadrangle. 26,416 people lived here at the 2020 count. It lies 112 feet below sea level.
Then and now
1915 to 1989The same ground, surveyed 74 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 figuresBrawley grew from 24,953 to 26,416 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 | 24,953 | |
| 2020 | 26,416 | +1,463 (+6%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
13 surveys from 20 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.
- 1915 USGS El Centro quadrangle1:125000
- 1940 USGS Brawley quadrangle1:62500
- 1942 USGS El Centro quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1943 USGS Brawley quadrangle1:62500
- 1954 USGS El Centro quadrangle1:250000
- 1955 USGS El Centro quadrangle1:250000
- 1957 USGS Brawley quadrangle1:24000, 4 printings
- 1957 USGS Brawley quadrangle1:62500
- 1958 USGS El Centro quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1961 USGS El Centro quadrangle1:250000
- 1964 USGS El Centro quadrangle1:250000
- 1976 USGS Brawley quadrangle1:24000
- 1989 USGS El Centro quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
8 since 2006Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 8 fires within 5 miles of Brawley between 2006 and 2019, burning about 7 acres in total. None started naturally. 3 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 | 4 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 3 |
| Equipment and vehicle 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 September 2006 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | San Diego Unit | ASHLEY |
| 29 August 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Desert District | 86 FIRE |
| 23 June 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 1.0 acres | San Diego Unit | not named |
| 22 March 2019 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | San Diego Unit | not named |
| 13 March 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5.0 acres | San Diego Unit | not named |
| 19 February 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 19 February 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 9 January 2010 | 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
4 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 4 workings within 5 miles of Brawley: 3 producers, 1 unknown. 3 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Clay, Geothermal. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brawley | Geothermal | Unknown | ||
| Hebbard Clay | Clay | Producer | ||
| Cowan Pit and Mill | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Pit and Mill 576 | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer |
Storms near this place
5 since 2008Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Brawley in 5 storm reports between 2008 and 2013: 3 thunderstorm wind, 2 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Brawley | $40,000 | Isolated evening thunderstorms developed across portions of Imperial county on September 9th, and they affected the community of Brawley. Due to the moist and and unstable nature of the atmosphere, some of the storms were able to generate strong and gusty outflow winds. A trained weather spotter in Brawley estimated a peak wind gust to 60 mph. According to an article in the Imperial Valley Press, a large tree fell over on top of a house in the 1200 block of E street in Brawley due to the strong thunderstorm winds. The article mentioned that a number of trees in the area were downed by the strong and gusty winds. |
| August 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Brawley | $6,000 | Several large eucalyptus trees blown down and an empty water tank rolled 100 feet. |
| September 2013 | Hail | Brawley | - | Isolated evening thunderstorms developed across portions of Imperial county on September 9th, and they affected the community of Brawley. The stronger storms generated large hail as well as strong and gusty outflow winds. A trained weather spotter in Brawley measured a large hailstone with a diameter of one inch. A Severe Thunderstorm Warning was issued for the area at 1710PST which continued through 1815PST. |
| August 2010 | Hail | Brawley | - | A trained storm spotter in the town of Brawley reported golf-ball sized hail. |
| September 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Brawley | - | Power outage reported in Brawley. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hovley | 1.7 miles | 20 | |
| Citrus View | 2.1 miles | 20 | |
| Alamorio | 3.7 miles | 21 | |
| Rockwood | 4.9 miles | 20 | |
| Westmorland | 6.3 miles | 20 | |
| Butlers (historical) | 6.6 miles | 21 | |
| Orita | 6.6 miles | 21 | |
| Moss | 6.6 miles | 21 |
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 Brawley | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q902878 | 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 1656443. 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.












