Planada, California
15 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1918 and the latest in 1983. It stands in the Planada-Le Grand census division. It lies in ZIP code area 95365. The Survey maps it on the Planada quadrangle. 4,164 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 226 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1918 to 1983The same ground, surveyed 65 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 figuresPlanada fell from 4,584 to 4,164 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 | 4,584 | |
| 2020 | 4,164 | -420 (-9%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
9 surveys from 15 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.
- 1918 USGS Planada quadrangle1:31680, 2 printings
- 1947 USGS San Jose quadrangle1:250000
- 1948 USGS Planada quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1956 USGS San Jose quadrangle1:250000
- 1961 USGS Planada quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1962 USGS Merced quadrangle1:62500
- 1962 USGS San Jose quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1966 USGS San Jose quadrangle1:250000
- 1983 USGS Merced quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
575 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 575 fires within 5 miles of Planada between 1992 and 2020, burning about 6,971 acres in total. None started naturally. 60 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 | 316 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 97 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 60 |
| Debris and open burning | 59 |
| Smoking | 21 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 14 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 5 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 2 |
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 September 1992 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Merced-Mariposa Unit | BROCCO |
| 8 September 2018 | Misuse of fire by a minor | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | ATHLONE |
| 8 September 2016 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | WHEALAN |
| 7 September 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | PLAINSBURG |
| 7 September 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | CHILDS |
| 7 September 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Merced-Mariposa Unit | SANTE FE |
| 7 September 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Merced-Mariposa Unit | HASKELL |
| 7 September 1997 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Merced-Mariposa Unit | TREE |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
2 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Planada: 1 past producer, 1 prospect. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Copper. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bear Creek Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Lone Tree Mine | Copper | Prospect |
Storms near this place
8 since 1998Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Planada in 8 storm reports between 1998 and 2023: 6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 2023 | Flood | Planada | - | Public report of roadway flooding at the intersection of Sutter St. and Santa Fe Ave. in Planada with vehicles stuck in the middle lane. |
| January 2023 | Flood | Planada | - | Public reports of vehicles stuck in water at the intersection of Sutter St. and Stanford Ave. in Planada. |
| January 2023 | Flood | Planada | - | Public report of an SUV stuck in water with the roadway flooded at the intersection of Childs Ave. and Pico St. in Planada. |
| January 2023 | Flood | Planada | - | California Highway Patrol reported roadway flooding along SR 140 near Plainsburg Rd. in Planada. |
| March 2018 | Flood | Planada | - | Public report of around a foot of water from Miles Creek flooding parts of Planada Elementary School. This report was later confirmed by the Merced County OES official. |
| February 2017 | Flood | Planada | - | California Highway Patrol reported both lanes on Highway 140 near North Cunningham Road were affected from moderate to heavy rain for the previous 2 to 3 hours. |
| May 2002 | Hail | Planada | - | Locally heavy rain and small hail led to spotty damage within Merced County. More substantial agricultural damage occurred in neighboring Central Valley counties to the south (see other reports). |
| March 1998 | Flash Flood | Planada | - | Eight (8) homes just outside of Planada sustained some flood damage from Miles Creek from heavy shower/thundershower activity. Unofficial rainfall of 1.3" in one hour occurred in the area (with rain continuing afterward). |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calpack | 1.8 miles | 15 | |
| Burchell (historical) | 2.6 miles | 15 | |
| Tuttle | 3.2 miles | 16 | |
| Plainsburg | 4.0 miles | 16 | |
| Kadota | 5.0 miles | 16 | |
| Bear Creek | 5.3 miles | 16 | |
| Lingard | 5.4 miles | 14 | |
| Le Grand | 5.7 miles | 16 |
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 Planada | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q3306176 | 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 1659784. 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.








