Carson, California
39 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1896 and the latest in 1981. It stands in the Compton census division. It lies in ZIP code area 90745. The Survey maps it on the Torrance quadrangle. 95,558 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 39 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1896 to 1981The same ground, surveyed 85 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


Compare 1896 against another survey:
Population over time
3 figuresCarson grew from 38,059 to 95,558 between 1960 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 38,059 | |
| 2010 | 91,714 | |
| 2020 | 95,558 | +3,844 (+4%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
14 surveys from 39 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.
- 1896 USGS Redondo quadrangle1:62500, 9 printings
- 1901 USGS Southern California Sheet No. 1 quadrangle1:250000, 6 printings
- 1904 USGS Southern California Sheet No. 1 quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1924 USGS Compton quadrangle1:24000
- 1930 USGS Compton quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1943 USGS San Pedro quadrangle1:125000
- 1944 USGS Redondo quadrangle1:62500
- 1949 USGS Long Beach quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1951 USGS Torrance quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1957 USGS Long Beach quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1958 USGS Long Beach quadrangle1:250000
- 1960 USGS Long Beach quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1964 USGS Torrance quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1981 USGS Long Beach quadrangle1:100000, 3 printings
Fires near this place
204 since 2005Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 204 fires within 5 miles of Carson between 2005 and 2020, burning about 105 acres in total. None started naturally. 11 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 | 120 |
| Smoking | 30 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 18 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 14 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 11 |
| Debris and open burning | 8 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 3 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 September 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 8 September 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 7 September 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 5 September 2011 | Smoking | under an acre | Los Angeles County Fire Department | not named |
| 4 September 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 3 September 2006 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 5.0 acres | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 26 September 2005 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1.0 acres | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 24 September 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 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
10 of 18 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 18 workings within 5 miles of Carson: 16 past producers, 1 occurrence, 1 plant. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Clay, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Silica, Diatomite. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Diatomaceous Earth Deposit | Diatomite | Occurrence | ||
| Torrance B Plant Ti | Titanium, Metal | Plant | ||
| Unnamed Quarry | Lead, Silver, Zinc | Past Producer | ||
| Caswell & Co. | Silica | Past Producer | ||
| Chandlers Palos Verdes S&G Co. | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Edward Sidebotham and Sons, Inc. | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Graham Bros.-Lomita Plant | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Lawrence I. Liston Co.-Madrona Ave | Silica | Past Producer | ||
| Miller Bros. Truck Co.- Vollmer Pit | Silica | Past Producer | ||
| Miller Bros. Truck Co.-Hawthorne | Silica | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
7 since 2001Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Carson in 7 storm reports between 2001 and 2026: 6 flash flood, 1 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 2026 | Flash Flood | Carson | - | Heavy rainfall generated flash flooding near the intersection of Interstate 710 and Willow Street. |
| February 2024 | Flash Flood | Carson | - | California Highway Patrol reported significant flooding on Interstate 405 at the Wardlow exit. Two vehicles were stuck in the flooding roadway. |
| February 2024 | Flash Flood | Carson | - | California Highway Patrol reported significant flooding on Interstate 710 near Long Beach. All southbound lanes of Interstate 710 under the PCH Bridge were closed due to flooding. |
| January 2017 | Flash Flood | Carson | - | Flash flooding was reported at the intersection of the Pacific Coast Highway and Interstate 710. |
| December 2014 | Flash Flood | West Carson | - | A strong thunderstorm over the city of Torrance produced intense rainfall and flash flooding. Streets were flooded and numerous cars were stranded. |
| January 2010 | Flash Flood | Carson | - | A very intense thunderstorm produced heavy rain and flash flooding in southern Los Angeles county near the interchange of Interstates 405 and 710. An automated rain gage in the area reported 2.46 inches of rainfall in 45 minutes. With such intense rainfall, water was at least chest high across the area which stranded many vehicles and flooded numerous businesses. |
| November 2001 | Flood | Carson | - | no account filed |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Keystone | 0.4 miles | 39 | |
| West Carson | 0.9 miles | 39 | |
| Dolanco Junction | 1.3 miles | 41 | |
| Avalon Village | 1.6 miles | 39 | |
| Southwest Village | 1.8 miles | 41 | |
| Ironsides | 1.9 miles | 41 | |
| Roosevelt | 2.6 miles | 41 | |
| Watson Junction | 2.7 miles | 40 |
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 Carson | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q494690 | 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 1660441. 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.













