Mojave, California
28 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1915 and the latest in 1992. It stands in the East Kern census division. It lies in ZIP code area 93501. The Survey maps it on the Mojave quadrangle. 4,699 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 2,762 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1915 to 1992The same ground, surveyed 77 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


Compare 1915 against another survey:
Population over time
2 figuresMojave grew from 4,238 to 4,699 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 | 4,238 | |
| 2020 | 4,699 | +461 (+11%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
13 surveys from 28 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.
- 1915 USGS Mojave quadrangle1:125000, 7 printings
- 1943 USGS Mojave quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1947 USGS Mojave quadrangle1:24000
- 1948 USGS Bakersfield quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1955 USGS Bakersfield quadrangle1:250000
- 1956 USGS Bakersfield quadrangle1:250000
- 1956 USGS Mojave quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1960 USGS Bakersfield quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1962 USGS Bakersfield quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1966 USGS Bakersfield quadrangle1:250000
- 1973 USGS Mojave quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1978 USGS Tehachapi quadrangle1:100000
- 1992 USGS Mojave quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
83 since 1994Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 83 fires within 5 miles of Mojave between 1994 and 2020, burning about 26,934 acres in total. 4 started naturally. 8 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 | 45 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 8 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 8 |
| Smoking | 6 |
| Debris and open burning | 5 |
| Natural | 4 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 3 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 2 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 1 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 September 1994 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 80 acres | California Desert District | SOLIDAD |
| 6 September 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Kern County Fire Department | not named |
| 18 September 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Kern County Fire Department | not named |
| 10 September 2011 | Natural | 25,577 acres | Central California District | COMMANCHE |
| 10 September 2008 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 10 September 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Desert District | UNNAMED FIRE 0194 |
| 9 August 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Desert District | UNNAMED FIRE 0177 |
| 6 August 2005 | Natural | under an acre | California Desert District | UNNAMED FIRE 0172 |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 60 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 60 workings within 5 miles of Mojave: 37 past producers, 10 producers, 4 prospects, 4 occurrences. 12 still produce. What was taken out: Gold, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Silver, Gold, Silver. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exposed Treasure Mine | Gold, Silver, Manganese | Past Producer | ||
| Four Star | Gold, Silver, Lead, Copper | Past Producer | ||
| Pride of Mojave Mine | Gold, Copper, Lead, Manganese, Silver | Past Producer | ||
| Silver Queen Mine | Silica | Past Producer | ||
| Soledad Mountain Deposit | Silver, Gold, Antimony, Lead, Copper | Past Producer | 1894 | |
| Unnamed Clay Deposit | Bentonite, Gypsum-Anhydrite | Prospect | ||
| Unnamed Feldspar Occurrence | Feldspar | Occurrence | ||
| Emerald Queen Prospect | Uranium | Occurrence | ||
| Monarch Mine | Silver, Gold | Past Producer | Gold | |
| Tehachapi Clay | Bentonite | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
10 since 1997Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Mojave in 10 storm reports between 1997 and 2023: 6 flash flood, 2 high wind, 1 thunderstorm wind, 1 flood. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 1998 | Flash Flood | Mojave | $10,000 | State Highway 14 closed from 4 miles northeast of Mojave to 8 miles northeast of Mojave due to water over the roadway caused by locally heavy rain in the adjacent Tehachapi Mountains. Cache Creek flooded from the Mojave area receiving 2.2" of rain in the previous 2 days on already moist soils. |
| September 1997 | Flash Flood | Mojave | $10,000 | A thunderstorm located just west of Mojave in the early evening hours supported heavy rain that resulted in sheet flow and flash flooding through pockets of houses west of Mojave and west Mojave itself. Water depths reached four feet at the intersection of State Highway 14 and Interstate 58 floating cars. No injuries resulted although several people were caught in high water or washed down streets. |
| August 2023 | Flood | Mojave | - | Caltrans reported a road closure of SR 14 between SR 58 and SR 178 due to flooding. |
| June 2019 | Flash Flood | Mojave | - | California Highway Patrol reported water and debris across the roadway near Mojave West Park. A nearby weather stations measured 0.52 inches of rain in 20 minutes. |
| June 2019 | Flash Flood | Mojave | - | California Highway Patrol reported the roadway flooded with lots of debris in the roadway. A nearby weather station measured 0.59 inches of rainfall in 20 minutes. |
| September 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Mojave | - | A damaging wind gust, in association with a severe thunderstorm, was report at the Mojave Spaceport with data from the Edwards Weather System wind tower. |
| September 2007 | Flash Flood | Mojave | - | Local law enforcement reported Highway 14 flooded in both directions near the intersection of California City Blvd. Flooding was also occurring around the Mojave Airport. |
| May 2000 | High Wind | Mojave | - | Early morning wind was reported at locally at Mojave in the Kern Desert. |
| May 2000 | High Wind | Mojave | - | Localized, gusty wind occurred in the Kern Deserts during the morning hours on the 9th. |
| July 2005 | Flash Flood | Mojave | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chaffee | 1.0 miles | 28 | |
| Sage (historical) | 1.2 miles | 28 | |
| Reefer City (historical) | 3.3 miles | 28 | |
| Fram (historical) | 3.3 miles | 28 | |
| Fleta | 3.5 miles | 28 | |
| Gold Town (historical) | 3.5 miles | 28 | |
| Cambio (historical) | 3.6 miles | 28 | |
| Sanborn | 5.1 miles | 30 |
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 Mojave | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q1943133 | 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 1652752. 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.












