Kettleman City, California
23 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1933 and the latest in 1993. It stands in the Stratford census division. It lies in ZIP code area 93239. It stands on Arroyo Robador. The Survey maps it on the Kettleman City quadrangle. 1,242 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 253 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1933 to 1993The same ground, surveyed 60 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


Population over time
2 figuresKettleman City fell from 1,439 to 1,242 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 | 1,439 | |
| 2020 | 1,242 | -197 (-14%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
14 surveys from 23 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.
- 1933 USGS Kettleman City quadrangle1:31680
- 1937 USGS Kettleman City quadrangle1:31680, 3 printings
- 1940 USGS Stratford quadrangle1:62500
- 1943 USGS Stratford quadrangle1:62500
- 1948 USGS Fresno quadrangle1:250000
- 1954 USGS Kettleman City quadrangle1:24000
- 1955 USGS Fresno quadrangle1:250000
- 1956 USGS Fresno quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Fresno quadrangle1:250000
- 1960 USGS Fresno quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1962 USGS Fresno quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1963 USGS Kettleman City quadrangle1:24000, 4 printings
- 1966 USGS Fresno quadrangle1:250000
- 1993 USGS Visalia quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
13 since 1993Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 13 fires within 5 miles of Kettleman City between 1993 and 2017, burning about 184 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 | 5 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5 |
| Firearms and explosives use | 1 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 1 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 September 2017 | Equipment and vehicle use | 3.0 acres | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 29 September 2006 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | San Benito-Monterey Unit | CABEU 003756 |
| 8 August 2004 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Central California District | FOURTY ONE |
| 29 August 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6.9 acres | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | AVENAL 3 |
| 31 July 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.0 acres | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 30 July 2017 | Firearms and explosives use | 1.6 acres | Central California District | LOCKWOOD |
| 26 July 2005 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1.0 acres | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 1 July 1993 | Equipment and vehicle use | 110 acres | Fresno-Kings Unit | HWY.33 |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
3 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 3 workings within 5 miles of Kettleman City: 3 past producers. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
9 since 2001Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Kettleman City in 9 storm reports between 2001 and 2019: 2 thunderstorm wind, 2 flash flood, 2 funnel cloud, 1 hail. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 2005 | Heavy Rain | Kettleman City | $10,000 | no account filed |
| April 2011 | Flood | Kettleman City | $2,000 | Highway Patrol reported flooding on interstate 5 just north of Quebec Avenue. |
| May 2019 | Funnel Cloud | Kettleman City | - | Reports on social media from a storm chaser with pictures of a funnel cloud near Kettlemen City. |
| June 2019 | Flash Flood | Kettleman City | - | California Highway Patrol reported very heavy rain flooding both northbound and southbound I-5 between Kettleman City and Avenal. CHP was pacing traffic in both directions following a brief closure. |
| February 2005 | Hail | Kettleman City | - | Trained spotter reported 3/4 to 1" hail. |
| February 2005 | Flash Flood | Kettleman City | - | Calif Highway Patrol reported water and mud over the road at Quail Ave and 30th Avenue in Southwest Fresno County. |
| May 2005 | Funnel Cloud | Kettleman City | - | Kings County Fire Dept reported seeiing 4 funnel clouds form and dissipate over a 30-minute time period on the 5th. |
| April 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Kettleman City | - | A thunderstorm with impressive radar signatures of 63 dbz reflectivity and a VIL of 55 were observed in a remote corner of Kings and ultimately Kern Counties of Central California. No reports of damage were received from the lone tower thunderstorm during the late afternoon of the 26th. |
| September 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Kettleman City | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kettleman Station | 0.7 miles | 25 | |
| Millham City (historical) | 2.8 miles | 23 | |
| Murray | 6.3 miles | 23 | |
| Hydril | 7.2 miles | 23 | |
| Reef Station | 8.9 miles | 25 | |
| Avenal | 8.9 miles | 25 | |
| Stratford | 14.5 miles | 21 | |
| Acebedo | 17.6 miles | 21 |
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 Kettleman City | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q1908364 | 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 1652733. 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.













