Los Gatos, California
24 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1916 and the latest in 1978. It stands in the San Jose census division. It lies in ZIP code area 95030. It lies near Saint Josephs Hill. The Survey maps it on the Los Gatos quadrangle. 33,529 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 344 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1916 to 1978The same ground, surveyed 62 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


On record in Los Gatos
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 4 records
Forbes Mill Annexlisted 1978
Los Gatos Historic Commercial Districtlisted 1991
McCullagh-Jones Houselisted 1974
Yung See San Fong Houselisted 1983
Population over time
3 figuresLos Gatos grew from 26,906 to 33,529 between 1980 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 26,906 | |
| 2010 | 29,413 | |
| 2020 | 33,529 | +4,116 (+14%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
11 surveys from 24 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.
- 1916 USGS New Almaden quadrangle1:48000
- 1919 USGS Los Gatos quadrangle1:62500
- 1919 USGS New Almaden quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1940 USGS Los Gatos quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1943 USGS Los Gatos quadrangle1:62500
- 1947 USGS San Jose quadrangle1:250000
- 1953 USGS Los Gatos quadrangle1:24000, 8 printings
- 1956 USGS San Jose quadrangle1:250000
- 1962 USGS San Jose quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1966 USGS San Jose quadrangle1:250000
- 1978 USGS San Jose quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
256 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 256 fires within 5 miles of Los Gatos between 1992 and 2020, burning about 143 acres in total. None started naturally. 26 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 | 133 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 51 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 26 |
| Smoking | 17 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 12 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 10 |
| Debris and open burning | 4 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 2 |
| Other causes | 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 2019 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | under an acre | Santa Clara Unit | not named |
| 9 September 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 6 September 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 6 September 2000 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Santa Clara Unit | FEE |
| 30 September 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 29 September 2019 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Santa Clara Unit | not named |
| 28 September 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 27 September 1997 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Santa Clara Unit | SCENIC VISTA |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 25 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 25 workings within 5 miles of Los Gatos: 11 past producers, 8 producers, 3 prospects, 2 occurrences. 8 still produce. What was taken out: Stone, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Mercury, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hooker Creek | Copper, Gold, Silver | Occurrence | Malachite | |
| Hooker Creek | Copper, Silver, Gold | Past Producer | ||
| John Knorr Mine | Stone, Dimension | Unknown | ||
| Greenwalls Property | Chromium | Producer | ||
| Steinheimer Ranch Prospect | Chromium | Prospect | ||
| Alma | Stone | Prospect | ||
| Douglas Ranch | Calcium | Producer | ||
| Douglas Ranch | Calcium | Past Producer | ||
| Guadalupe Lime Co. | Calcium | Producer | ||
| Guadalupe Lime Co. | Calcium | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
15 since 2002Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Los Gatos in 15 storm reports between 2002 and 2020: 5 debris flow, 4 hail, 2 flood, 1 heavy rain. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 2017 | Hail | Los Gatos | $5,000,000 | Damage dollar amounts is a low estimate. Impacts are not fully known, but any individual car crash would likely exceed this amount. |
| January 2017 | Hail | Los Gatos | $10 | no account filed |
| March 2020 | Hail | Los Gatos | - | Spotter reported small hail in Los Gatos. |
| August 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Los Gatos | - | Los Gatos station reported. |
| January 2019 | Debris Flow | Los Gatos | - | Mud slide reported at Cats/Lexington south side on Hwy 17. |
| November 2018 | Flood | Los Gatos | - | Roadway flooding reported at Daves Avenue and SR9. |
| January 2017 | Flash Flood | Los Gatos | - | Los Gatos Creek flooding. |
| January 2017 | Funnel Cloud | Los Gatos | - | Video of brief funnel cloud submitted via social media. Location and timing are approximate from radar. |
| February 2017 | Debris Flow | Los Gatos | - | Mud and rocks blocking Limekin Canyon Rd at Soda Springs Rd. |
| February 2017 | Debris Flow | Los Gatos | - | Highway 17 southbound shut down due to rock slide just north of Lexington Reservoir. |
| February 2017 | Debris Flow | Los Gatos | - | Mud slide reported at 18500 Limekiln Canyon Road. |
| February 2017 | Debris Flow | Los Gatos | - | Rock slide, trees down at SR9 and Serramonte off ramp. |
| January 2010 | Flood | Los Gatos | - | State Highway 17 was closed for about three hours due to flooding. |
| March 2017 | Hail | Los Gatos | - | no account filed |
| December 2002 | Heavy Rain | Los Gatos | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rinconada | 0.4 miles | 24 | |
| Shannon | 0.7 miles | 24 | |
| Monte Sereno | 1.2 miles | 24 | |
| Austin | 1.7 miles | 24 | |
| Vasona Junction | 2.2 miles | 28 | |
| Lexington (historical) | 2.2 miles | 24 | |
| San Tomas | 2.9 miles | 28 | |
| Cambrian Park | 3.1 miles | 28 |
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 Los Gatos | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q747509 | 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 1659017. 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.










