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Los Osos, California

36 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1897 and the latest in 1998. It stands in the North Coast census division. It lies in ZIP code area 93402. It lies near Clark Valley. The Survey maps it on the Morro Bay South quadrangle. 14,465 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 197 feet above sea level.

Los Osos within San Luis Obispo County

Then and now

1897 to 1998

The same ground, surveyed 101 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Los Osos, surveyed 1998
Topographic sheet of Los Osos, surveyed 1897

Compare 1897 against another survey:

Population over time

2 figures

Los Osos grew from 14,276 to 14,465 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.

YearPeople Change
201014,276
202014,465+189 (+1%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

14 surveys from 36 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

124 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 124 fires within 5 miles of Los Osos between 1992 and 2020, burning about 1,022 acres in total. None started naturally. 4 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/undetermined57
Equipment and vehicle use31
Debris and open burning16
Power generation/transmission/distribution6
Arson/incendiarism4
Recreation and ceremony3
Smoking3
Misuse of fire by a minor3
Firearms and explosives use1

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
7 September 1992Equipment and vehicle use1.0 acresSan Luis Obispo UnitSLU-2856
6 September 1992Smokingunder an acreSan Luis Obispo UnitSLU-2842
5 September 2020Arson/incendiarismunder an acreSan Luis Obispo UnitEMS3CDF/
29 September 1993Equipment and vehicle use4.0 acresSan Luis Obispo UnitP.G.& E.
25 September 2011Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.5 acresSan Luis Obispo UnitHIGHWAY
23 September 2007Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresSan Luis Obispo UnitDORIS AV LOS_OSOS 4
21 September 2010Equipment and vehicle use1.0 acresSan Luis Obispo UnitCUESTA
21 September 2010Power generation/transmission/distribution1.0 acresSan Luis Obispo UnitGILARDI

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in San Luis Obispo County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 37 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 37 workings within 5 miles of Los Osos: 20 past producers, 7 producers, 7 occurrences, 3 prospects. 7 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Manganese, Chromium, Copper. 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
Arrisa MineGypsum-AnhydriteProducerSedimentary
Johe Ranch MineManganese, SilicaPast Producer1916, 1917
Los OsosCopper, Silver, Gold, Cobalt, NickelPast ProducerVein
Los Osos MineCopper, Gold, Sand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
Los Osos MineCopper, Gold, SilverPast Producer
McKinney Iron MinesIronOccurrence
Morro Rock QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Red Rock PitStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Rodrigues PitStoneProducer
Unnamed QuarryStonePast Producer

Every working recorded in San Luis Obispo County

Storms near this place

1 since 2026

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Los Osos in 1 storm report in 2026: 1 thunderstorm wind. 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
February 2026Thunderstorm WindLos Osos-Strong thunderstorm winds, gusting to 75 MPH, were reported at the Las Osos sensor.

Every storm recorded in San Luis Obispo 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
Cuesta-by-the-Sea0.9 miles36
Baywood Park1.1 miles36
Morro Bay3.9 miles36
Goldtree8.0 miles31
Chorro8.3 miles31
San Luis Obispo9.4 miles31
Serrano9.6 miles31
Cayucos9.6 miles32

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 OsosAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q3458288The 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 245183. 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.