Orinda, California
41 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1897 and the latest in 1995. It stands in the Central Contra Costa census division. It lies in ZIP code area 94563. It stands on Lauterwasser Creek. The Survey maps it on the Briones Valley quadrangle. 19,514 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 495 feet above sea level.
Research this city
Then and now
1897 to 1995The same ground, surveyed 98 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


On record in Orinda
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 3 records
Maynard and Katharine Buehler Houselisted 2006
Charles W. Merrill Houselisted 2005
Moraga Adobelisted 1972
Population over time
2 figuresOrinda grew from 17,643 to 19,514 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 | 17,643 | |
| 2020 | 19,514 | +1,871 (+11%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
21 surveys from 41 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.
- 1897 USGS Concord quadrangle1:62500, 6 printings
- 1915 USGS Concord quadrangle1:62500, 5 printings
- 1942 USGS Concord quadrangle1:62500
- 1943 USGS Concord quadrangle1:62500
- 1947 USGS Briones Valley quadrangle1:24000
- 1947 USGS San Francisco quadrangle1:250000
- 1948 USGS San Francisco quadrangle1:250000
- 1949 USGS Briones Valley quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1955 USGS San Francisco quadrangle1:250000
- 1956 USGS San Francisco quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1957 USGS San Francisco quadrangle1:250000
- 1959 USGS Briones Valley quadrangle1:24000, 6 printings
- 1959 USGS Concord quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1960 USGS San Francisco quadrangle1:250000
- 1961 USGS San Francisco quadrangle1:250000
- 1964 USGS San Francisco quadrangle1:250000
- 1971 USGS San Francisco quadrangle1:250000
- 1978 USGS San Francisco quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
- 1985 USGS San Francisco quadrangle1:250000
- 1993 USGS Briones Valley quadrangle1:24000
- 1995 USGS Briones Valley quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
199 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 199 fires within 5 miles of Orinda between 1992 and 2020, burning about 555 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 17 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 | 112 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 31 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 17 |
| Debris and open burning | 12 |
| Smoking | 9 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 8 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 6 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 2 |
| Natural | 1 |
| 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 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 8 September 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Santa Clara Unit | SAINT MARYS RD MORAGA |
| 7 September 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 6 September 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Santa Clara Unit | BEAR |
| 6 September 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 5 September 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 5 September 1994 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Santa Clara Unit | ANZA |
| 3 September 2014 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | under an acre | Santa Clara Unit | WILDCAT |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 25 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 25 workings within 5 miles of Orinda: 9 occurrences, 8 past producers, 4 unknowns, 2 producers. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Stone, Mercury, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Crushed/Broken. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Berkeley Hills | Sulfur-Pyrite, Copper, Lead | Past Producer | Galena, Pyrite | |
| Unnamed Location | Calcium | Prospect | ||
| Unnamed Location | Asbestos | Occurrence | ||
| Berkeley Hills | Lead | Unknown | ||
| Unnamed Location | Lead | Occurrence | ||
| Oakland, Antioch & Eastern Rr Co. | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Occurrence | ||
| Oakland, Antioch & Eastern Rr. Co. | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Tunnel Rock | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Tunnel Rock | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Occurrence | ||
| Ada Sand and Gravel Pit No 2 | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer |
Storms near this place
9 since 1996Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Orinda in 9 storm reports between 1996 and 2024: 7 flood, 1 flash flood, 1 hail. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 2012 | Flood | Orinda | $250,000 | During heavy rainfall, a 24 inch culvert failed and collapsed, opening up a 20 foot sinkhole on Tarabrook Drive. One lane of traffic could still get by the sinkhole. The Orinda City Council declared a state of emergency due to this large sinkhole. |
| February 2000 | Flash Flood | Orinda | $100,000 | A 6 foot wall of water and mud flowed through the yardsand residences along Glorietta court near Moraga way. |
| November 2024 | Flood | Orinda | $10 | Water was reported on all lanes of Westbound State Highway 24 at Camino Pablo. |
| December 2024 | Flood | Orinda | - | Water was reported across all lanes of eastbound State Highway 24 at the junction with St Stephens Drive. |
| January 2019 | Flood | Orinda | - | Roadway flooding at SR 24E at Acalanes Rd. |
| March 2019 | Flood | Orinda | - | Roadway flooding at SR-24 E and Saint Stephens Dr off ramp. |
| April 2018 | Hail | Orinda | - | Small hail along with thunder and lightning reported in Orinda. |
| April 2017 | Flood | Orinda | - | Flooding in off ramps of SR24 at Acalanes Rd. |
| December 1996 | Flood | Orinda | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Orinda Village | 1.1 miles | 41 | |
| Glorietta | 1.2 miles | 42 | |
| Eastport | 2.6 miles | 42 | |
| Rheem | 3.0 miles | 42 | |
| Lafayette | 3.3 miles | 42 | |
| Moraga | 3.9 miles | 42 | |
| Valle Vista | 4.3 miles | 42 | |
| Saranap | 5.5 miles | 42 |
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 Orinda | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q206464 | 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 1659313. 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.




















