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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.

El Cerrito within Contra Costa County

Then and now

1895 to 1995

The 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.

Topographic sheet of El Cerrito, surveyed 1995
Topographic sheet of El Cerrito, surveyed 1895

Population over time

3 figures

El 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.

YearPeople Change
19201,505
201023,549
202025,962+2,413 (+10%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

19 surveys from 40 printed sheets

Matched 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.

Fires near this place

335 since 1992

Regional 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/undetermined225
Arson/incendiarism45
Misuse of fire by a minor23
Smoking18
Equipment and vehicle use15
Debris and open burning5
Power generation/transmission/distribution2
Natural1
Recreation and ceremony1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
9 September 2005Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
7 September 2019Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreSanta Clara Unitnot named
7 September 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
6 September 2007Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
5 September 2009Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
5 September 2007Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
5 September 1994Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreSanta Clara UnitANZA
5 September 1992Missing data/not specified/undetermined4.0 acresSanta Clara UnitHALLOCK

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Contra Costa County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 33 shown

Regional 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Berkeley HillsSulfur-Pyrite, Copper, LeadPast ProducerGalena, Pyrite
Richmond MillLimestone, GeneralProducer
QuarrySand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
QuarrySand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
United Materials and Richmond Pressed Brick Co.ClayProducer1907
Unnamed LocationAsbestosOccurrence
Unnamed LocationAsbestosOccurrence
Untd. Mtrls. & Rchmnd.Prssd.Brck.CoClayPast Producer
Berkeley HillsLeadUnknown
Unnamed LocationLeadOccurrence

Every working recorded in Contra Costa County

Storms near this place

2 since 2018

Regional 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
November 2024FloodEl Cerrito$10Flooding was blocking lanes on westbound Interstate 580 at Central Avenue.
March 2018HailEl Cerrito-Small hail reported.

Every storm recorded in Contra Costa County

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 PlaceDistance Sheets
Stege0.8 miles40
Kensington1.7 miles40
Easter Hill Village1.8 miles40
East Richmond1.9 miles40
East Richmond Heights2.0 miles40
Richmond2.4 miles40
Nystrom Village2.5 miles40
Triangle Court3.4 miles40

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 CerritoAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q996569The 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.