Terra Bella, California
20 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1929 and the latest in 1993. It stands in the Terra Bella census division. It lies in ZIP code area 93270. It lies near Fountain Springs Gulch. The Survey maps it on the Ducor quadrangle. 2,910 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 486 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1929 to 1993The same ground, surveyed 64 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 figuresTerra Bella fell from 3,310 to 2,910 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 | 3,310 | |
| 2020 | 2,910 | -400 (-12%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
10 surveys from 20 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.
- 1929 USGS Ducor quadrangle1:31680, 3 printings
- 1942 USGS Terra Bella quadrangle1:62500
- 1948 USGS Bakersfield quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1952 USGS Ducor quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1955 USGS Bakersfield quadrangle1:250000
- 1956 USGS Bakersfield quadrangle1:250000
- 1960 USGS Bakersfield quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1962 USGS Bakersfield quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1966 USGS Bakersfield quadrangle1:250000
- 1993 USGS Delano quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
239 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 239 fires within 5 miles of Terra Bella between 1992 and 2019, burning about 1,531 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 55 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 | 77 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 72 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 55 |
| Debris and open burning | 15 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 11 |
| Smoking | 5 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 2 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 1 |
| Natural | 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 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Tulare Unit | SCHULTZ |
| 8 September 2004 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Tulare Unit | TULARE COUNTY #120 |
| 7 September 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Pixley National Wildlife Refuge | SC. CAL. #103 |
| 6 September 1997 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Tulare Unit | STATE OF CALIF. #61 |
| 6 September 1993 | Arson/incendiarism | 5.0 acres | Tulare Unit | ORDUNO |
| 4 September 1997 | Equipment and vehicle use | 2.0 acres | Tulare Unit | TULARE COUNTY #133 |
| 30 September 2003 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Tulare Unit | APCD #199 |
| 30 September 1993 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.0 acres | Tulare Unit | UHL |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
3 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 3 workings within 5 miles of Terra Bella: 3 past producers. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Magnesite, Gemstone, Sand and Gravel, Construction. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deer Creek Chrysoprase | Gemstone | Past Producer | 1897 | |
| Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Mentz Property | Magnesite | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
2 since 2023Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Terra Bella in 2 storm reports between 2023 and 2025: 2 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 2025 | Flood | Terra Bella | - | California Highway Patrol reported roadway flooding at the intersection of Ave. 96 and Rd. 208. |
| March 2023 | Flood | Terra Bella | - | California Highway Patrol reported roadway flooding and debris in the creek on Rd. 192 and Ave. 96. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elmco | 2.1 miles | 20 | |
| Ultra | 2.4 miles | 27 | |
| Deer Creek Colony | 2.6 miles | 20 | |
| Lempon (historical) | 3.6 miles | 27 | |
| Lois | 4.0 miles | 23 | |
| Hope (historical) | 4.2 miles | 23 | |
| Ducor | 4.9 miles | 20 | |
| Magnolia | 4.9 miles | 27 |
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 Terra Bella | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q289033 | 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 1652800. 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.









