Walnut Creek, California
42 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 94596. It stands on San Ramon Creek. The Survey maps it on the Walnut Creek quadrangle. 70,127 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 131 feet above sea level.
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 Walnut Creek
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
Robert Stanley Sr. Dollar Houselisted 2013
Old Borges Ranchlisted 1981
Shadelands Ranch Houselisted 1985
Population over time
2 figuresWalnut Creek grew from 64,173 to 70,127 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 | 64,173 | |
| 2020 | 70,127 | +5,954 (+9%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
21 surveys from 42 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 San Francisco quadrangle1:250000
- 1947 USGS Walnut Creek quadrangle1:24000
- 1948 USGS San Francisco quadrangle1:250000
- 1949 USGS Walnut Creek 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 Concord quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1959 USGS Walnut Creek quadrangle1:24000, 7 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 Walnut Creek quadrangle1:24000
- 1995 USGS Walnut Creek quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
357 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 357 fires within 5 miles of Walnut Creek between 1992 and 2020, burning about 695 acres in total. 4 started naturally. 47 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 | 136 |
| Smoking | 64 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 58 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 47 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 33 |
| Debris and open burning | 11 |
| Natural | 4 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 2 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 2 |
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 |
| 8 September 2008 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 7 September 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 5 September 2008 | Smoking | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 4 September 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 30 September 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Santa Clara Unit | not named |
| 30 September 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 26 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 26 workings within 5 miles of Walnut Creek: 9 occurrences, 6 past producers, 5 prospects, 3 producers. 3 still produce. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, Stone, Calcium, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arroyo Del Cerro Prospects | Asbestos | Occurrence | ||
| Clark & Sons | Clay | Prospect | ||
| Cowell | Limestone, Dimension | Unknown | ||
| Cowell Silver | Silver | Unknown | ||
| Cowell Silver Sand Co., Laws | Silica | Producer | Sand | |
| Mitchell Canyon Prospect | Copper | Prospect | ||
| Mt. Diablo Lime Marl Co. | Limestone, General | Occurrence | Sedimentary | |
| N. M. Ball Sons | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Silver Sand | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown | ||
| Henry Cowell Lime & Cement Co. | Calcium | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
9 since 1998Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Walnut Creek in 9 storm reports between 1998 and 2025: 6 flood, 2 flash flood, 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 2010 | Heavy Rain | Walnut Creek | $10,000 | A rain-slicked road led to the crash of a car at the intersection of Mount Diablo Boulevard and Iron Horse Regional Trail in Walnut Creek. The vehicle crashed through a fence and landed upside down in the rain-swollen San Ramon Creek bypass. The driver and one other individual perished, while one occupant was rescued three miles downstream. A Contra Costa County official stated that at the time of the crash, the water would have been 2.34 feet deep and flowing at 6.4 feet per second. |
| February 2025 | Flood | Walnut Creek | - | Around 8 inches of water were reported on the ramp that connects eastbound State Route 24 to southbound Interstate 680. |
| November 2019 | Flood | Walnut Creek | - | Media reported flooded roads at the intersection of Broadway and Cypress St in Walnut Creek. |
| January 2018 | Flood | Walnut Creek | - | Roadway flooding reported at I 680S and Ygnacio Valley Road on ramp. Six inches of standing water. |
| January 2018 | Flood | Walnut Creek | - | I 680 southbound lanes flooded. |
| November 2018 | Flood | Walnut Creek | - | Roadway flooding reported at I680 N and Olympic Blvd on ramp, 8-10 inches of water in number 2 lane. |
| February 1998 | Flash Flood | Walnut Creek | - | people evacuated Walnut Creek due to flash Flood. |
| February 1998 | Flash Flood | Walnut Creek | - | Streets and businesses flash flood in Walnut Creek. |
| December 2002 | Flood | Walnut Creek | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Waldon | 1.5 miles | 42 | |
| Contra Costa Centre | 1.5 miles | 42 | |
| Sparkle | 1.6 miles | 42 | |
| Saranap | 1.6 miles | 42 | |
| Las Juntas | 1.9 miles | 42 | |
| Bancroft | 2.1 miles | 42 | |
| Walnut Heights | 2.2 miles | 42 | |
| Hookston | 2.5 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 Walnut Creek | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q493261 | 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 1660120. 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.




















