Del Mar, California
22 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1904 and the latest in 1994. It stands in the San Diego census division. It lies in ZIP code area 92014. It lies near San Dieguito Valley. The Survey maps it on the Del Mar OE W quadrangle. 3,954 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 112 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1904 to 1994The same ground, surveyed 90 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


Compare 1904 against another survey:
On record in Del Mar
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 1 record
Canfield-Wright Houselisted 2004
Population over time
2 figuresDel Mar fell from 4,161 to 3,954 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 | 4,161 | |
| 2020 | 3,954 | -207 (-5%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
9 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.
- 1904 USGS Southern California Sheet No. 2 quadrangle1:250000, 5 printings
- 1950 USGS San Diego quadrangle1:250000
- 1953 USGS Del Mar quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1954 USGS San Diego quadrangle1:250000
- 1955 USGS San Diego quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS San Diego quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1967 USGS Del Mar quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1979 USGS San Diego quadrangle1:100000, 3 printings
- 1994 USGS Del Mar quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
47 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 47 fires within 5 miles of Del Mar between 1992 and 2020, burning about 108 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 | 25 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 11 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 3 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 3 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 3 |
| Debris and open burning | 2 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27 September 2005 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 15 September 2005 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | San Diego Unit | LEWIS |
| 31 August 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 11 acres | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 27 August 2002 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | San Diego Unit | APAJO |
| 12 August 2006 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | San Diego Unit | REPOSA |
| 1 August 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 31 July 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 27 July 1992 | Recreation and ceremony | 1.0 acres | San Diego Unit | SANTE FE |
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 Del Mar: 5 past producers, 1 occurrence. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Clay. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Huchting Ranch Deposit | Clay | Occurrence | ||
| Sorrento Sand Co Deposit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | Sedimentary | |
| Sorrento Sand Co. | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Sorrento Sand Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Unnamed Borrow Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Zinniger Sand Plant | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
8 since 1997Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Del Mar in 8 storm reports between 1997 and 2023: 3 funnel cloud, 2 rip current, 1 high surf, 1 lightning. The reports record 7 injuries. 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 2001 | Rip Current | Del Mar | 7 hurt | Waves reaching 15 feet generated strong rip currents. Seven surfers, divers, and swimmers had to be rescued by lifeguards. Heavy surf continued into the following day, but no other rescues were reported. |
| June 1999 | High Surf | Del Mar | $10,000 | The combination of long period swells and spring tides caused minor flooding and beach erosion in the Del Mar area, and forced the closure of Ocean Beach Pier . |
| July 2015 | Lightning | Del Mar | $500 | CHP and local media reported a small brush fire started by lightning. |
| January 2023 | Flood | Del Mar | - | Department of Highways reported two to three lanes of southbound I-5 bypass at Highway 56 was flooded. Vehicles were unable to drive in the slow lane. |
| April 2006 | Funnel Cloud | Del Mar | - | A funnel cloud over Del Mar was photographed by a trained spotter. |
| March 2005 | Funnel Cloud | Del Mar | - | A funnel cloud was spotted near Carmel Valley Road in Del Mar. |
| December 1997 | Funnel Cloud | Del Mar | - | A weather spotter observed a funnel cloud which developed just offshore of Del Mar and moved inland. |
| August 2003 | Rip Current | Del Mar | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Del Mar Heights | 0.8 miles | 22 | |
| Eden Gardens | 2.0 miles | 22 | |
| Solana Beach | 2.2 miles | 22 | |
| Cardiff-by-the-Sea | 4.4 miles | 50 | |
| Sorrento | 4.6 miles | 35 | |
| Rancho Santa Fe | 5.3 miles | 43 | |
| Encinitas | 5.5 miles | 50 | |
| Olivenhain | 6.2 miles | 43 |
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 Del Mar | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q674469 | 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 1656480. 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.








