Cambria, California
22 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1919 and the latest in 1980. It stands in the North Coast census division. It lies in ZIP code area 93428. It stands on Perry Creek. The Survey maps it on the Cambria quadrangle. 5,678 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 43 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1919 to 1980The same ground, surveyed 61 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


On record in Cambria
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
Old Santa Rosa Catholic Church and Cemeterylisted 1982- Guthrie Houselisted 1980
Population over time
2 figuresCambria fell from 6,032 to 5,678 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 | 6,032 | |
| 2020 | 5,678 | -354 (-6%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
10 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.
- 1919 USGS San Simeon quadrangle1:62500, 4 printings
- 1937 USGS San Simeon quadrangle1:62500
- 1947 USGS San Luis Obispo quadrangle1:250000
- 1948 USGS San Luis Obispo quadrangle1:250000
- 1956 USGS San Luis Obispo quadrangle1:250000, 5 printings
- 1957 USGS San Luis Obispo quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS San Luis Obispo quadrangle1:250000
- 1959 USGS Cambria quadrangle1:24000, 4 printings
- 1959 USGS San Simeon quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1980 USGS Cambria quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
108 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 108 fires within 5 miles of Cambria between 1992 and 2020, burning about 354 acres in total. 4 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 | 45 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 33 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 8 |
| Debris and open burning | 6 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 6 |
| Natural | 4 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 4 |
| Smoking | 1 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 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 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | San Luis Obispo Unit | BURTON DR CAMBRIA 71 |
| 3 September 1995 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | San Luis Obispo Unit | MOONSTONE |
| 28 September 2010 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | San Luis Obispo Unit | NOEL WY SLO_CO |
| 26 September 2003 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1.0 acres | San Luis Obispo Unit | CREEK |
| 25 September 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | San Luis Obispo Unit | VILLAGE |
| 23 September 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | San Luis Obispo Unit | TRENTON ST CMB |
| 23 September 1999 | Natural | under an acre | San Luis Obispo Unit | SMOKE CHECK |
| 20 September 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 25 acres | San Luis Obispo Unit | SUMMIT |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 25 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 25 workings within 5 miles of Cambria: 16 past producers, 4 producers, 3 occurrences, 2 prospects. 4 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Mercury, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Chromium. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phelan Prospect | Manganese | Occurrence | 1918 | |
| Rogers Ranch Occurrence | Chromium | Occurrence | Chromite | |
| San Simeon Creek Deposit | Antimony | Past Producer | ||
| San Simeon Creek Shell Deposits | Calcium | Occurrence | ||
| Bianchi Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Cambria Pit | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Rancho San Simeon Pit | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Cambria | Mercury | Past Producer | 1903 | |
| Cambria Mine | Mercury | Past Producer | ||
| Gambrie Mine | Mercury | Producer |
Storms near this place
3 since 2008Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Cambria in 3 storm reports between 2008 and 2025: 2 thunderstorm wind, 1 flash flood. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Cambria | $1,000 | Strong thunderstorms generated gusty winds. A large tree was knocked down across Santa Rosa Creek Road. |
| September 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Cambria | $1,000 | Strong thunderstorms generated gusty winds in the community of Cambria. Law enforcement reported a tree was knocked down. |
| January 2008 | Flash Flood | Cambria | - | California Highway Patrol reported flash flooding along San Simeon Creek Road. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tin City | 0.1 miles | 22 | |
| East Village | 0.2 miles | 22 | |
| Cambria Pines | 0.7 miles | 22 | |
| Lodge Hill | 0.9 miles | 22 | |
| West Village | 1.0 miles | 22 | |
| Park Hill | 1.3 miles | 22 | |
| Happy Hill | 1.5 miles | 22 | |
| Marine Terrace | 1.5 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 Cambria | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q1028196 | 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 1652683. 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.









