Chualar, California
26 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1910 and the latest in 1983. It stands in the Gonzales census division. It lies in ZIP code area 93925. It stands on Chualar Creek. The Survey maps it on the Chualar quadrangle. 1,185 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 115 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1910 to 1983The same ground, surveyed 73 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


Compare 1910 against another survey:
Population over time
2 figuresChualar fell from 1,190 to 1,185 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 | 1,190 | |
| 2020 | 1,185 | -5 (-0%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
12 surveys from 26 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.
- 1910 USGS Salinas quadrangle1:31680
- 1912 USGS Salinas quadrangle1:62500, 6 printings
- 1940 USGS Salinas quadrangle1:62500
- 1947 USGS Chualar quadrangle1:24000, 6 printings
- 1947 USGS Salinas quadrangle1:62500, 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
Fires near this place
32 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 32 fires within 5 miles of Chualar between 1992 and 2020, burning about 449 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 |
|---|---|
| Equipment and vehicle use | 14 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 11 |
| Debris and open burning | 6 |
| 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 1997 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1.0 acres | San Benito-Monterey Unit | RIVER |
| 30 September 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.1 acres | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 25 September 1993 | Debris and open burning | 5.0 acres | San Benito-Monterey Unit | SORATOS |
| 15 September 1992 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | San Benito-Monterey Unit | JOHNSON |
| 21 August 1994 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4.0 acres | San Benito-Monterey Unit | MINE |
| 11 August 2007 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | San Benito-Monterey Unit | ENCINAL IC ON WHITE 3 |
| 22 July 2010 | Equipment and vehicle use | 2.0 acres | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 2 July 2004 | Equipment and vehicle use | 22 acres | San Benito-Monterey Unit | CABEU 002441 |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
6 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 6 workings within 5 miles of Chualar: 3 past producers, 2 producers, 1 prospect. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Limestone, General, Stone, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Crushed/Broken. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Johnson | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Unnamed Quarry | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Johnson | Stone | Producer | ||
| Limekiln Creek Deposit | Limestone, General | Prospect | Sedimentary | |
| Limekiln Creek Deposit-Chualar | Limestone, General | Past Producer | ||
| Quarry | Stone | Producer |
Storms near this place
10 since 2010Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Chualar in 10 storm reports between 2010 and 2024: 9 flood, 1 debris flow. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 2023 | Flood | Chualar | $10 | US Highway 101 near Chualar flooded, causing the highway to be shut down. |
| February 2024 | Flood | Chualar | - | Old Stage Road was closed a Chualar Road due to flooding. |
| January 2023 | Flood | Chualar | - | Caltrans reported flooding on US Highway 101 near Esperanza Road in Chualar. |
| December 2022 | Flood | Chualar | - | CHP reported flooding on Northbound US Highway 101 at Chualar. |
| January 2021 | Flood | Chualar | - | Road flooded at US-101 N and Chualar, lane closed. |
| January 2021 | Flood | Chualar | - | Roadway flooding at Old Stage Rd and Esperanza Rd. |
| January 2021 | Debris Flow | Chualar | - | Mudslide on River Road 1/2 mile NW of Chualar River Rd. Photos show damage to nearby homes and structures. |
| December 2019 | Flood | Chualar | - | CHP reports that Hwy 101 is under 3 feet of water and is being closed near Esperanze Rd and the City of Chualar. |
| December 2019 | Flood | Chualar | - | Monterey County OES reporting 5 to 10 homes flooded in Chualar over the course of the afternoon and evening. |
| January 2010 | Flood | Chualar | - | Heavy rain caused flooding along State Highway 101 just north of Chualar. California Highway Patrol slowed traffic on Highway 101 because of the flooding. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gabilan (historical) | 2.1 miles | 24 | |
| Spence | 3.9 miles | 26 | |
| Dean | 4.5 miles | 24 | |
| Gonzales | 5.9 miles | 24 | |
| Spreckels | 7.7 miles | 28 | |
| Spreckels Junction | 8.5 miles | 27 | |
| Old Hilltown | 9.0 miles | 27 | |
| Alisal | 9.2 miles | 27 |
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 Chualar | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2797405 | 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 1655896. 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.











