Mission Viejo, California
37 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1901 and the latest in 1983. It stands in the Mission Viejo census division. It lies in ZIP code area 92691. The Survey maps it on the San Juan Capistrano quadrangle. 93,653 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 561 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1901 to 1983The same ground, surveyed 82 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 figuresMission Viejo grew from 93,305 to 93,653 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 | 93,305 | |
| 2020 | 93,653 | +348 (+0%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
15 surveys from 37 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.
- 1901 USGS Southern California Sheet No. 1 quadrangle1:250000, 6 printings
- 1902 USGS Corona quadrangle1:125000, 7 printings
- 1904 USGS Southern California Sheet No. 1 quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1942 USGS Santiago Peak quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1947 USGS Santa Ana quadrangle1:250000
- 1948 USGS San Juan Capistrano quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1949 USGS San Juan Capistrano quadrangle1:24000
- 1949 USGS Santa Ana quadrangle1:250000
- 1956 USGS Santa Ana quadrangle1:250000
- 1959 USGS Santa Ana quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1960 USGS Santa Ana quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1965 USGS Santa Ana quadrangle1:250000
- 1968 USGS San Juan Capistrano quadrangle1:24000, 4 printings
- 1974 USGS San Juan Capistrano quadrangle1:24000
- 1983 USGS Santa Ana quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
191 since 2002Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 191 fires within 5 miles of Mission Viejo between 2002 and 2020, burning about 1,794 acres in total. 4 started naturally. 62 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 | 73 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 62 |
| Smoking | 18 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 16 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 14 |
| Natural | 4 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 2 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1 |
| Debris and open burning | 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 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Orange County Fire Authority | not named |
| 6 September 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 98 acres | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 5 September 2010 | Smoking | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 28 September 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 27 September 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 25 September 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 22 September 2010 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 20 September 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1.0 acres | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
7 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 7 workings within 5 miles of Mission Viejo: 4 producers, 2 past producers, 1 occurrence. 4 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Limestone, General, Diatomite. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aliso Prospect | Diatomite | Occurrence | ||
| El Toro Deposit | Limestone, General, Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Baker Ranch Extension | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| El Toro Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Gravel Pits | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| San Juan Capistrano Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Trabuco Creek Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer |
Storms near this place
9 since 1999Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Mission Viejo in 9 storm reports between 1999 and 2024: 4 wildfire, 3 flood, 1 thunderstorm wind, 1 debris flow. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2002 | Wildfire | Mission Viejo | $250,000 | no account filed |
| February 2001 | Flood | Mission Viejo | $60,000 | no account filed |
| February 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Mission Viejo | $5,000 | no account filed |
| February 2024 | Flood | Mission Viejo | - | SR74 and Casper's Park had significant flooding occur after 4.50 inches of rain fell in the area. |
| January 2023 | Debris Flow | Mission Viejo | - | The Department of Highways reported a rockslide in the westbound lane of Highway 74 near Hot Springs Canyon Road. Over 1 inch of rain had fallen in the region. |
| January 2023 | Flood | Mission Viejo | - | Orange County Public Works reported minor flooding on roadways at Silverado Canyon, with rapid water movement in creeks. Two to three inches of rain were observed in the upper canyons. |
| December 1999 | Wildfire | Mission Viejo | - | Dry conditions and gusty Santa Ana winds fanned a wild fire into a 38 acre blaze before being brought under control by more than 100 firefighters. |
| November 2002 | Wildfire | Mission Viejo | - | no account filed |
| May 2002 | Wildfire | Mission Viejo | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Galivan | 2.1 miles | 37 | |
| Laguna Hills | 2.3 miles | 37 | |
| Las Flores | 2.5 miles | 37 | |
| Ladera Ranch | 2.8 miles | 37 | |
| Laguna Woods | 2.9 miles | 37 | |
| El Toro | 3.3 miles | 47 | |
| Lake Forest | 3.4 miles | 47 | |
| Serrano Place | 3.4 miles | 47 |
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 Mission Viejo | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q506428 | 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 1661045. 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.














