BlockBefore

Oildale, California

33 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1906 and the latest in 1981. It stands in the Bakersfield census division. It lies in ZIP code area 93308. The Survey maps it on the Oildale quadrangle. 36,135 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 469 feet above sea level.

Oildale within Kern County

Then and now

1906 to 1981

The same ground, surveyed 75 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Oildale, surveyed 1981
Topographic sheet of Oildale, surveyed 1906

Compare 1906 against another survey:

Population over time

2 figures

Oildale grew from 32,684 to 36,135 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
201032,684
202036,135+3,451 (+11%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

15 surveys from 33 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

607 since 1993

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 607 fires within 5 miles of Oildale between 1993 and 2020, burning about 2,064 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 90 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/undetermined380
Arson/incendiarism90
Equipment and vehicle use65
Misuse of fire by a minor30
Power generation/transmission/distribution17
Smoking13
Debris and open burning10
Recreation and ceremony1
Natural1

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
9 September 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreKern County Fire Departmentnot named
9 September 2009Equipment and vehicle use2.5 acresKern County Fire Departmentnot named
8 September 2019Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 acresKern County Fire Departmentnot named
8 September 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
8 September 2006Missing data/not specified/undetermined3.0 acresCentral California DistrictUNNAMED FIRE 0412
7 September 2019Missing data/not specified/undetermined8.9 acresKern County Fire Departmentnot named
7 September 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
7 September 2009Misuse of fire by a minorunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Kern County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 16 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 16 workings within 5 miles of Oildale: 14 past producers, 2 producers. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Silica, 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
China Grade FlatsGold, SilverPast Producer
Griffith Construction Co. PitSand and Gravel, Construction, Gold, SilverPast Producer
Kern River PitSilicaPast Producer
Bluff Site PlantSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
County PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Hartman Fox PlantSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
James Road PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
James Road Pit & MillSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Kern River Commun Use PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Kramer PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Kern County

Storms near this place

8 since 2001

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Oildale in 8 storm reports between 2001 and 2025: 5 flood, 1 lightning, 1 funnel cloud, 1 heavy rain. 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
October 2025FloodOildale-CHP reports roadway flooding at Teakwood Drive and Roberts Lane.
February 2024FloodOildale-California Highway Patrol reported roadway flooding on Washington Ave. near the intersection of Wells Ave.
April 2020FloodOildale-California Highway Patrol reported roadway flooding at the intersection of Hart St. and East McCord Ave. in Oildale.
March 2019FloodOildale-California Highway Patrol reported roadway flooding at the intersection of Roberts Ln. and Hart St. in Bakersfield.
December 2016Heavy RainOildale-Report of heavy rain causing Kern River near Bakersfield to flow very fast and contained ash from runoff in burn areas which caused problems for a water reclamation water treatment plant to be temporarily shut down until ash was no longer present.
November 2013FloodOildale-Hart street was flooded by heavy rain.
May 2003Funnel CloudOildale-no account filed
March 2001LightningOildale-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Kern 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
Seguro0.1 miles33
Maltha1.2 miles34
La Cresta1.8 miles34
Oil Junction2.0 miles33
Oil City3.2 miles34
East Bakersfield3.2 miles34
Bakersfield3.2 miles27
Kern3.2 miles34

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 OildaleAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2016874The 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 1652762. 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.