Carmel-by-the-Sea, California
31 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1913 and the latest in 1997. It stands in the Carmel-by-the-Sea census division. It lies in ZIP code area 93921. It lies near Pescadero Canyon. The Survey maps it on the Monterey quadrangle. 3,220 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 223 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1913 to 1997The same ground, surveyed 84 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


Compare 1913 against another survey:
On record in Carmel-by-the-Sea
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
Sunset Centerlisted 1998
Mrs. Clinton Walker Houselisted 2016
Population over time
2 figuresCarmel-by-the-Sea fell from 3,722 to 3,220 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 | 3,722 | |
| 2020 | 3,220 | -502 (-13%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
13 surveys from 31 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.
- 1913 USGS Monterey quadrangle1:62500, 8 printings
- 1941 USGS Monterey quadrangle1:62500
- 1947 USGS Monterey quadrangle1:24000, 5 printings
- 1947 USGS Monterey quadrangle1:62500, 4 printings
- 1948 USGS Monterey quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1948 USGS Santa Cruz quadrangle1:250000, 2 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
- 1997 USGS Monterey quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
391 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 391 fires within 5 miles of Carmel-by-the-Sea between 1992 and 2020, burning about 1,991 acres in total. 5 started naturally. 22 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 | 210 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 62 |
| Smoking | 30 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 24 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 22 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 17 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 11 |
| Debris and open burning | 10 |
| Natural | 5 |
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 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | MORSE |
| 9 September 2012 | Misuse of fire by a minor | under an acre | San Benito-Monterey Unit | MAJELLA RD / SLOAT RD |
| 8 September 1999 | Natural | under an acre | Central California District | EQUESTRIAN |
| 7 September 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1.0 acres | Central California District | UNNAMED FIRE 1835 |
| 7 September 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | San Benito-Monterey Unit | SAN CARLOS |
| 6 September 2013 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | San Benito-Monterey Unit | 17 MILE DR / BIRD ROCK RD |
| 6 September 2012 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1.0 acres | San Benito-Monterey Unit | MEADOWS |
| 5 September 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | San Benito-Monterey Unit | BIRD |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 38 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 38 workings within 5 miles of Carmel-by-the-Sea: 23 past producers, 12 producers, 3 prospects. 12 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Stone, Dimension. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Del Monte Prop. Co-Fan Shell Beach | Silica | Past Producer | ||
| Del Monte Prop. Co. - Fanshell Beah | Sand and Gravel, Construction, Feldspar | Past Producer | ||
| Sawmill Gulch | Clay | Past Producer | ||
| Machado | Slate, Dimension | Past Producer | ||
| Santa Lucia Quarries, Ltd. | Flagstone | Past Producer | ||
| Sierra | Flagstone | Past Producer | ||
| Stewart Quarry | Slate, Dimension | Past Producer | ||
| Carmel Stone Quarry-Anthony | Stone, Dimension | Past Producer | ||
| Carmel Stone Quarry-Passadori | Stone, Dimension | Past Producer | ||
| Whaler's Cove | Stone, Dimension | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carmel Woods | 1.2 miles | 31 | |
| Pebble Beach | 1.5 miles | 31 | |
| Del Monte Forest | 2.5 miles | 31 | |
| Hacienda Carmel | 2.7 miles | 31 | |
| Quail Meadows | 3.2 miles | 30 | |
| Monterey | 3.5 miles | 31 | |
| Carmel Highlands | 3.6 miles | 31 | |
| Cannery Row | 4.2 miles | 31 |
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 Carmel-by-the-Sea | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q625458 | 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 1658224. 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.












