Murrieta, California
35 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1901 and the latest in 1983. It stands in the Murrieta census division. It lies in ZIP code area 92562. It lies near Miller Canyon. The Survey maps it on the Murrieta quadrangle. 110,949 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,096 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.


Compare 1901 against another survey:
Population over time
2 figuresMurrieta grew from 103,466 to 110,949 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 | 103,466 | |
| 2020 | 110,949 | +7,483 (+7%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
13 surveys from 35 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 Elsinore quadrangle1:125000, 8 printings
- 1901 USGS Southern California Sheet No. 1 quadrangle1:250000, 6 printings
- 1904 USGS Southern California Sheet No. 1 quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1942 USGS Murrieta quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1943 USGS Murrieta quadrangle1:62500
- 1947 USGS Santa Ana quadrangle1:250000
- 1949 USGS Santa Ana quadrangle1:250000
- 1953 USGS Murrieta quadrangle1:24000, 6 printings
- 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
- 1983 USGS Santa Ana quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
552 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 552 fires within 5 miles of Murrieta between 1992 and 2020, burning about 6,285 acres in total. 4 started naturally. 44 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 | 267 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 115 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 57 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 44 |
| Smoking | 28 |
| Debris and open burning | 24 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 8 |
| Natural | 4 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 4 |
| Fireworks | 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 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Riverside Unit | COMO ST WILD |
| 9 September 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | VIA NORTE TEM |
| 9 September 2000 | Equipment and vehicle use | 10 acres | Riverside Unit | PLATEAU FIRE |
| 9 September 1995 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Riverside Unit | LOCAL FIRE |
| 8 September 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | DE LUZ RD / CALLE CAPISTR |
| 8 September 1992 | Recreation and ceremony | 1.5 acres | Riverside Unit | STATE FIRE 1386 |
| 7 September 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Riverside Unit | STATE |
| 6 September 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | WINCHESTER RD TEM |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
6 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 6 workings within 5 miles of Murrieta: 3 producers, 2 past producers, 1 occurrence. 3 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Feldspar, Silica, Feldspar, Silica. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Encaustic Tiling Co. | Feldspar, Silica | Past Producer | ||
| Encaustic Tiling Co | Feldspar, Silica | Producer | ||
| Murrieta Hot Springs | Geothermal | Producer | ||
| Wildomar Kaolin Deposit | Clay | Occurrence | ||
| Murrieta Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Temecula Sand Company Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer |
Storms near this place
18 since 1999Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Murrieta in 18 storm reports between 1999 and 2023: 5 flood, 4 thunderstorm wind, 2 wildfire, 2 hail. The reports record 6 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 2019 | Flash Flood | Murrieta | 4 hurt, $20,000 | Multiple swift water rescues on Santa Margarita river reported by lifeguards. 4 to 8 inches of rainfall occurred over the river drainage. |
| June 2003 | Wildfire | Murrieta | 1 hurt | no account filed |
| January 2001 | Wildfire | Murrieta | 1 hurt | no account filed |
| December 2002 | Flood | Murrieta | $150,000 | no account filed |
| August 2004 | Lightning | Murrieta | $50,000 | no account filed |
| November 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Murrieta | $40,000 | no account filed |
| December 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Murrieta | $30,000 | no account filed |
| September 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Murrieta | $30,000 | no account filed |
| March 2021 | Hail | Murrieta | $10,000 | Thunderstorms late afternoon on March 11 produced 1/4 to 1/2 inch hail. |
| January 2016 | Debris Flow | Murrieta | $2,000 | CHP reported a car stuck in a mudslide on De Luz Road west of Temecula. |
| September 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | Murrieta | $2,000 | A spotter in Murrieta reported 50 mph winds with a wooden fence blown down and lawn furniture thrown across the yard. |
| February 2023 | Debris Flow | Murrieta | - | Department of Highways reported a 3-4 foot boulder came off the mountain and fell into the road following heavy rainfall. |
| March 2023 | Flood | Murrieta | - | In Murrieta, the parking lot in front of the local Sam's Club was flooded with water about 1 foot deep. |
| August 2023 | Flood | Murrieta | - | A trained spotter reported flooding in the streets of Old Town Murrieta near the Santa Ana foothills. |
| July 2010 | Heavy Rain | Murrieta | - | Heavy rain from a short-lived, intense thunderstorm caused frequent lightning, gusty winds, which downed a few trees, and dumped enough rain to cause minor street flooding. Smoke was also seen from spot fires started by lightning in the mountains near Murrieta. |
| April 1999 | Flood | Murrieta | - | Street flooding occurred in the San Jacinto and Temecula valleys from heavy rainshowers following the passage of a strong cold front. California Highway Patrol reported more than three times the normal amount of traffic collisions on Inland Empire Highways during this period. |
| May 2008 | Hail | Murrieta | - | no account filed |
| April 2002 | Flood | Murrieta | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Linda Rose | 2.7 miles | 35 | |
| Murrieta Hot Springs | 3.0 miles | 35 | |
| Sylvan Meadows | 4.0 miles | 35 | |
| Antelope Hills | 4.3 miles | 35 | |
| Wildomar | 4.7 miles | 35 | |
| Santa Rosa West | 5.1 miles | 35 | |
| Temecula | 5.4 miles | 30 | |
| La Cresta | 5.4 miles | 35 |
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 Murrieta | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q838787 | 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 1667919. 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.












