El Cerrito, California
40 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1895 and the latest in 1995. It stands in the West Contra Costa census division. It lies in ZIP code area 94530. It lies near William Rust Summit. The Survey maps it on the Richmond quadrangle. 25,962 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 69 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1895 to 1995The same ground, surveyed 100 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


Population over time
3 figuresEl Cerrito grew from 1,505 to 25,962 between 1920 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 1920 | 1,505 | |
| 2010 | 23,549 | |
| 2020 | 25,962 | +2,413 (+10%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
19 surveys from 40 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.
- 1895 USGS San Francisco quadrangle1:62500
- 1899 USGS San Francisco quadrangle1:62500, 7 printings
- 1915 USGS San Francisco quadrangle1:62500, 6 printings
- 1947 USGS Richmond quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1947 USGS San Francisco quadrangle1:250000
- 1948 USGS San Francisco quadrangle1:250000
- 1949 USGS Richmond quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1955 USGS San Francisco quadrangle1:250000
- 1956 USGS San Francisco quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1957 USGS San Francisco quadrangle1:250000
- 1959 USGS Richmond quadrangle1:24000, 5 printings
- 1960 USGS San Francisco quadrangle1:250000
- 1961 USGS San Francisco quadrangle1:250000
- 1964 USGS San Francisco quadrangle1:250000
- 1971 USGS San Francisco quadrangle1:250000
- 1978 USGS San Francisco quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
- 1985 USGS San Francisco quadrangle1:250000
- 1993 USGS Richmond quadrangle1:24000
- 1995 USGS Richmond quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
335 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 335 fires within 5 miles of El Cerrito between 1992 and 2020, burning about 224 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 45 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 | 225 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 45 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 23 |
| Smoking | 18 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 15 |
| Debris and open burning | 5 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 2 |
| Natural | 1 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 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 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 7 September 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Santa Clara Unit | not named |
| 7 September 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 6 September 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 5 September 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 5 September 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 5 September 1994 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Santa Clara Unit | ANZA |
| 5 September 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4.0 acres | Santa Clara Unit | HALLOCK |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 33 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 33 workings within 5 miles of El Cerrito: 17 occurrences, 7 past producers, 3 unknowns, 3 producers. 3 still produce. What was taken out: Stone, Mercury, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Lead. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Berkeley Hills | Sulfur-Pyrite, Copper, Lead | Past Producer | Galena, Pyrite | |
| Richmond Mill | Limestone, General | Producer | ||
| Quarry | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | Sedimentary | |
| Quarry | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| United Materials and Richmond Pressed Brick Co. | Clay | Producer | 1907 | |
| Unnamed Location | Asbestos | Occurrence | ||
| Unnamed Location | Asbestos | Occurrence | ||
| Untd. Mtrls. & Rchmnd.Prssd.Brck.Co | Clay | Past Producer | ||
| Berkeley Hills | Lead | Unknown | ||
| Unnamed Location | Lead | Occurrence |
Storms near this place
2 since 2018Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names El Cerrito in 2 storm reports between 2018 and 2024: 1 hail, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| November 2024 | Flood | El Cerrito | $10 | Flooding was blocking lanes on westbound Interstate 580 at Central Avenue. |
| March 2018 | Hail | El Cerrito | - | Small hail reported. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stege | 0.8 miles | 40 | |
| Kensington | 1.7 miles | 40 | |
| Easter Hill Village | 1.8 miles | 40 | |
| East Richmond | 1.9 miles | 40 | |
| East Richmond Heights | 2.0 miles | 40 | |
| Richmond | 2.4 miles | 40 | |
| Nystrom Village | 2.5 miles | 40 | |
| Triangle Court | 3.4 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 El Cerrito | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q996569 | 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 277504. 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.


















