Madera, California
16 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1922 and the latest in 1982. It stands in the Madera census division. It lies in ZIP code area 93637. The Survey maps it on the Madera quadrangle. 66,224 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 272 feet above sea level.
Research this city
Then and now
1922 to 1982The 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.


On record in Madera
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 1 record
Madera County Courthouselisted 1971
Population over time
2 figuresMadera grew from 61,416 to 66,224 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 | 61,416 | |
| 2020 | 66,224 | +4,808 (+8%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
11 surveys from 16 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.
- 1922 USGS Madera quadrangle1:31680
- 1946 USGS Madera quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1947 USGS Madera quadrangle1:24000
- 1948 USGS Santa Cruz quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1955 USGS Santa Cruz quadrangle1:250000
- 1957 USGS Santa Cruz quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Santa Cruz quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1963 USGS Madera quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1965 USGS Santa Cruz quadrangle1:250000
- 1974 USGS Monterey quadrangle1:250000
- 1982 USGS Mendota quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
2,005 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 2,005 fires within 5 miles of Madera between 1992 and 2020, burning about 3,732 acres in total. 2 started naturally. 260 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 | 1042 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 303 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 260 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 153 |
| Debris and open burning | 141 |
| Smoking | 85 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 8 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 8 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 3 |
| Natural | 2 |
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 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Merced-Mariposa Unit | N D ST / ADELL ST |
| 9 September 2000 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Merced-Mariposa Unit | MADERA CITY #1769 |
| 9 September 1995 | Misuse of fire by a minor | under an acre | Merced-Mariposa Unit | MAD#1833 |
| 8 September 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | AUSTIN ST MADERA_ACRES |
| 8 September 1999 | Debris and open burning | 2.0 acres | Merced-Mariposa Unit | CASTRO |
| 8 September 1999 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Merced-Mariposa Unit | CHEMICAL |
| 8 September 1997 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Merced-Mariposa Unit | MAD 1672 |
| 7 September 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Merced-Mariposa Unit | MFD1789 |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
2 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Madera: 1 producer, 1 past producer. 1 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fresno River Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Solo Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
33 since 1997Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Madera in 33 storm reports between 1997 and 2023: 8 hail, 7 flood, 6 heavy rain, 6 funnel cloud. The reports record 4 injuries. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 2000 | Hail | Madera | 4 hurt, $30,000 | Hail from the day's severe weather activity lead to a multiple-car accident on heavily travelled State Highway 99 on the northbound on-ramp from Avenue 12 in Madera County. |
| April 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | Madera | $15,000 | no account filed |
| January 2006 | Flood | Madera | $10,000 | no account filed |
| June 2005 | Dust Devil | Madera | $500 | A large dust devil developed in the Central San Joaquin Valley in the town of Madera on the 8th. Some minor damage to playground equipment was reported with the dust devil wind. |
| January 2023 | Flood | Madera | - | California Highway Patrol reported roadway flooding on northbound SR 99 and the W. Cleveland Ave. offramp. |
| January 2021 | Flood | Madera | - | California Highway Patrol reported lane #1 on SR 99 in Madera was closed to pump out ponding water. |
| January 2021 | Flood | Madera | - | The Madera County Sheriffs Office reported roadway flooding due to heavy rain on Daley Rd. in Madera. |
| February 2019 | Funnel Cloud | Madera | - | Public reports of a funnel cloud in Madera. |
| January 2017 | Funnel Cloud | Madera | - | Public report on social media with a photo of a funnel cloud in Madera. |
| February 2017 | Flood | Madera | - | California Highway Patrol reported roadway flooding on Road 26 at Avenue 17 in Madera Acres. |
| December 2016 | Heavy Rain | Madera | - | Mesowest indicated several reports of 1-1.5 in rain between 1600 PST and 2200 PST. |
| April 2015 | Funnel Cloud | Madera | - | Public report of a funnel cloud near Madera, CA. |
| April 2015 | Hail | Madera | - | Spotter reported three quarter inch hail near Madera, CA. |
| April 2015 | Hail | Madera | - | Public report of three quarter inch hail near Madera, CA. |
| December 2014 | Heavy Rain | Madera | - | Widespread rainfall amounts of 1 to 2 inches reported across the San Joaquin Valley portion Madera county with up to 2.5 inches in the foothills. Nuisance flooding of roadways. |
| February 2000 | Tornado (F0) | Madera | - | Tornado path through rural area over pasture land and fallow crop land. Tornado from a cell on the northern segment of a bowed line of convection. The tornado was a straight-up tube shape on the ground for 10 minutes. |
| April 1999 | Funnel Cloud | Madera | - | Reported just west of Highway 99 at the Fresno/Madera County Line by a Storm Chaser. |
| June 1999 | Funnel Cloud | Madera | - | Short-lived funnel spotted within line of convective activity by trained spotter. |
| February 1998 | Flood | Madera | - | Flooded intersections due to locally heavy rain overwhelming drainage systems. Subsequent runoff through small streams led to levees breaking on Cottonwood creek in the LaVina area south of Madera. |
| March 1998 | Hail | Madera | - | Spotter report of 3/4" hail swath from northwest to southeast along State Highway 99 in Madera County. |
| March 1998 | Flood | Madera | - | Torrential rain and small hail with thunderstorms clogged State Highway 99 with water closing the highway. Numerous vehicle accidents resulted from the flooded and piled-hail condition on the road 7 miles southeast of Madera. |
| March 2006 | Hail | Madera | - | no account filed |
| February 2005 | Hail | Madera | - | no account filed |
| February 2005 | Hail | Madera | - | no account filed |
| February 2005 | Lightning | Madera | - | no account filed |
| February 2005 | Heavy Rain | Madera | - | no account filed |
| April 2003 | Heavy Rain | Madera | - | no account filed |
| February 2001 | Hail | Madera | - | no account filed |
| April 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Madera | - | no account filed |
| June 2000 | Heavy Rain | Madera | - | no account filed |
| February 1999 | Funnel Cloud | Madera | - | no account filed |
| September 1999 | Lightning | Madera | - | no account filed |
| May 1998 | Heavy Rain | Madera | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parksdale | 2.2 miles | 16 | |
| Storey | 2.4 miles | 16 | |
| Parkwood | 2.5 miles | 16 | |
| Borden | 2.8 miles | 16 | |
| Italian Swiss Colony | 3.2 miles | 16 | |
| Madera Highlands | 3.6 miles | 18 | |
| Madera Acres | 4.0 miles | 18 | |
| Madera Country Club Estates | 4.5 miles | 18 |
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 Madera | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q851000 | 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 277552. 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.










