Central California is generally thought of as the middle third of the state, north of

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban a ...

, which includes

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, and south of Northern California, which includes

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

. It includes the northern portion of the

San Joaquin Valley The San Joaquin Valley ( ; es, Valle de San Joaquín) is the area of the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California that lies south of the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta and is drained by the San Joaquin River. It comprises seven ...

(which itself is the southern portion of the Central Valley, beginning at the

Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta The Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta, or California Delta, is an expansive inland river delta and estuary in Northern California. The Delta is formed at the western edge of the Central Valley by the confluence of the Sacramento and San ...

), part of the Central Coast, the central hills of the

California Coast Ranges The Coast Ranges of California span from Del Norte or Humboldt County, California, south to Santa Barbara County. The other three coastal California mountain ranges are the Transverse Ranges, Peninsular Ranges and the Klamath Mountains. P ...

and the foothills and mountain areas of the central Sierra Nevada. Central California is considered to be west of the crest of the Sierra Nevada. East of the Sierra is

Eastern California Eastern California is a region defined as either the strip to the east of the crest of the Sierra Nevada or as the easternmost counties of California. Demographics According to the 2010 census, the population of the eastern border counties of Ca ...

. The largest cities in the region (over 50,000 population), from most to least populous, are

Fresno Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, maki ...

, Bakersfield, Stockton,

Modesto Modesto () is the county seat and largest city of Stanislaus County, California, United States. With a population of 218,464 at the 2020 census, it is the 19th largest city in the state of California and forms part of the Sacramento-Stockton ...

, Salinas,

Visalia Visalia ( ) is a city in the agricultural San Joaquin Valley of California. The population was 141,384 as per the 2020 census. Visalia is the fifth-largest city in the San Joaquin Valley, the 42nd most populous in California, and 192nd in ...

, Clovis, Santa Maria,

Merced Merced (; Spanish for "Mercy") is a city in, and the county seat of, Merced County, California, United States, in the San Joaquin Valley. As of the 2020 Census, the city had a population of 86,333, up from 78,958 in 2010. Incorporated on April 1 ...

Turlock Turlock is a city in Stanislaus County, California, United States. Its estimated 2019 population of 73,631 made it the second-largest city in Stanislaus County after Modesto. History Founded on December 22, 1871, by prominent grain farmer Jo ...

, Madera, Lodi, Tulare, Porterville, Hanford and

Delano Delano or DeLano may refer to: Places in the United States * Delano, California * Delano, Wichita, Kansas, a neighborhood in Wichita and former community before merging with Wichita * Delano, Minnesota * Delano, Nevada * Delano, Pennsylvania * De ...

. Over time,

droughts A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...

and

wildfires A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identif ...

have increased in frequency and become less seasonal and more year-round, further straining the region's

water security Water security is the focused goal of water policy and water management. A society with a high level of water security makes the most of water's benefits for humans and ecosystems and limits the risk of destructive impacts associated with water. T ...

Geography

Central California can have widely varying definitions depending on the context. Some divide the state by lines of latitude making northern, central and southern sections. Others divide by county lines or watershed boundaries. Some definitions include more of the

and even larger portions of the Central Valley. Some have less or none of Central Coast. Yosemite

Counties

Central California as defined above includes the following 10 counties: *

* Kings * Madera * Mariposa *

Monterey Monterey (; es, Monterrey; Ohlone: ) is a city located in Monterey County on the southern edge of Monterey Bay on the U.S. state of California's Central Coast. Founded on June 3, 1770, it functioned as the capital of Alta California under bot ...

* San Benito * Stanislaus * Tulare * Tuolumne The following counties are partially contained within central California: * Calaveras *

Kern KERN (1180 AM broadcasting, AM) is a commercial radio, commercial radio station city of license, licensed to Wasco, California, Wasco-Greenacres, California, and serving the Bakersfield metropolitan area. The station is owned by American General ...

* San Joaquin *

San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo (; Spanish for " St. Louis the Bishop", ; Chumash: ''tiłhini'') is a city and county seat of San Luis Obispo County, in the U.S. state of California. Located on the Central Coast of California, San Luis Obispo is roughly hal ...

* Santa Barbara * Santa Cruz

Cities

Area cities and towns listed below are major regional centers or county seats. * Bakersfield *

* Hanford * Hollister * Lemoore * Lodi *

Lompoc Lompoc ( ; Chumash: ''Lum Poc'') is a city in Santa Barbara County, California. Located on the Central Coast, Lompoc has a population of 43,834 as of July 2021. Lompoc has been inhabited for thousands of years by the Chumash people, who called ...

* Madera * Mariposa *

Pismo Beach Pismo Beach (Chumash: ''Pismuʔ'') is a city in the southern portion of San Luis Obispo County, in the Central Coast area of California, United States. The estimated population was 8,072 at the 2020 census, up from 7,655 in the 2010 census. It ...

Paso Robles Paso Robles ( ), officially El Paso de Robles (Spanish for "The Pass of Oaks"), is a city in San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. Located on the Salinas River approximately north of San Luis Obispo, the city is known for its hot ...

* Porterville * Salinas *

* Santa Maria * Sonora * Stockton * Tulare *

Watsonville Watsonville is a city in Santa Cruz County, California, located in the Monterey Bay Area of the Central Coast of California. The population was 52,590 according to the 2020 census. Predominantly Latino and Democratic, Watsonville is a self- ...

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

Sub-regions

The following regions are entirely contained within central California: * Big Sur *

Kings Canyon National Park Kings Canyon National Park is an American national park in the southern Sierra Nevada, in Fresno and Tulare Counties, California. Originally established in 1890 as General Grant National Park, the park was greatly expanded and renamed to King ...

* Metropolitan Fresno *

Pinnacles National Park Pinnacles National Park is an American national park protecting a mountainous area located east of the Salinas Valley in Central California, about east of Soledad and southeast of San Jose. The park's namesakes are the eroded leftovers of t ...

Salinas Valley The Salinas Valley is one of the major valleys and most productive agricultural regions in California. It is located west of the San Joaquin Valley and south of San Francisco Bay and the Santa Clara Valley. The Salinas River, which geologically ...

Sequoia National Park Sequoia National Park is an American national park in the southern Sierra Nevada east of Visalia, California. The park was established on September 25, 1890, and today protects of forested mountainous terrain. Encompassing a vertical relief ...

Yosemite National Park Yosemite National Park ( ) is an American national park in California, surrounded on the southeast by Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest. The park is managed by the National Park Service and covers an ...

The following regions are partially contained within central California: *

* Central Coast *

Diablo Range The Diablo Range is a mountain range in the California Coast Ranges subdivision of the Pacific Coast Ranges in northern California, United States. It stretches from the eastern San Francisco Bay area at its northern end to the Salinas Valley are ...

Gold Country The Gold Country (also known as Mother Lode Country) is a historic region in the northern portion of the U.S. state of California, that is primarily on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada. It is famed for the mineral deposits and gold mines ...

Santa Barbara County Santa Barbara County, California, officially the County of Santa Barbara, is located in Southern California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 448,229. The county seat is Santa Barbara, and the largest city is Santa Maria. Santa Barba ...

* Santa Cruz County * Sierra Nevada Mountains *

Tehachapi Mountains The Tehachapi Mountains (; Kawaiisu: ''Tihachipia'', meaning "hard climb") are a mountain range in the Transverse Ranges system of California in the Western United States. The range extends for approximately in southern Kern County and northwe ...

Education

Central California has opened two new universities recently, one in each of the past two decades. The

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Franci ...

has one campus in the region.

University of California, Merced The University of California, Merced (UC Merced) is a public land-grant research university and Hispanic-serving institution located in Merced, California, and is the tenth and newest of the University of California (UC) campuses. Establish ...

opened on a newly constructed site on the east side of

in 2005. The

California State University The California State University (Cal State or CSU) is a public university system in California. With 23 campuses and eight off-campus centers enrolling 485,550 students with 55,909 faculty and staff, CSU is the largest four-year public univers ...

system has four campuses in the region.

California State University, Monterey Bay California State University, Monterey Bay (CSUMB or Cal State Monterey Bay) is a public university in Monterey County, California. Its main campus is located on the site of the former military base Fort Ord, straddling the cities of Seaside and ...

opened on the site of the former

Fort Ord Fort Ord is a former United States Army post on Monterey Bay of the Pacific Ocean coast in California, which closed in 1994 due to Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) action. Most of the fort's land now makes up the Fort Ord National Monument, ...

army base in 1994.

California State University, Stanislaus California State University, Stanislaus (Stanislaus State, Stan State) is a public university in Turlock, Stanislaus County, California. It is part of the California State University system. It was established in 1957 and is also the only cam ...

in Turlock opened in 1957.

California State University, Fresno California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California. It is one of 23 campuses in the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers bache ...

opened in 1911. The

Monterey Institute of International Studies The Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey (MIIS), formerly known as the Monterey Institute of International Studies, is an American graduate school of Middlebury College, a private college in Middlebury, Vermont. Established ...

is a graduate school that offers eleven master's degree programs in

international policy International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

, MBA, international management, language teaching, and translation and language interpretation, interpretation. The

is a graduate school of Middlebury College. San Joaquin College of Law is a private, nonprofit law school located in Clovis. Fresno Pacific University is a private university in Fresno. The Naval Postgraduate School and Defense Language Institute are located in Monterey. The following California Community Colleges System, community college campus sites are in the region: * Columbia College (California), Columbia College in Sonora, Tuolumne County * Clovis Community College (California), Clovis Community College in Clovis, Fresno County * Fresno City College in Fresno, Fresno County * Hartnell College in Salinas, Monterey County * Merced College in Merced, Merced County * Modesto Junior College in Modesto, Stanislaus County * Monterey Peninsula College, Monterey, Monterey County * Porterville College in Porterville, Tulare County * Reedley College in Fresno, Fresno County * College of the Sequoias in Visalia, Tulare County * West Hills College Coalinga in Coalinga, Fresno County * West Hills College Lemoore in Lemoore, Kings County * Madera Community College in Madera, Madera County *Oakhurst Community College Center in Oakhurst, Madera County There are no community colleges in Mariposa or San Benito Counties.

Transport

Major highways

Most of the major highways in the region run north-south around the mountains. Interstate 5 in California, Interstate 5 and California State Route 99, State Route 99 are the primary highways in the San Joaquin Valley. U.S. Route 101 in California, US 101 and California State Route 1, State Route 1 are the major coastal highways.

Rail

Passenger rail in the region consists of the Amtrak long-haul Coast Starlight and Amtrak California San Joaquin (Amtrak), San Joaquin routes. The California High-Speed Rail system is under planning. If built, it would have stations in Fresno and Merced on the initial line between San Francisco/San Jose and Los Angeles. Freight rail is served by commercial railroads. Union Pacific Railroad and BNSF Railway operate mainline freight through the region in the Central Valley.

Air

Major and regional airline service are available at Fresno Yosemite International Airport and Monterey Regional Airport. Regional airline service is also available at Modesto City-County Airport, Merced Municipal Airport and Visalia Municipal Airport. General Aviation airports exist in all 10 counties. The largest are former military bases converted to civilian airports * Castle Airport in Merced County * Marina Municipal Airport in Monterey County * Porterville Municipal Airport in Tulare County * Salinas Municipal Airport in Monterey County * Visalia Municipal Airport in Tulare County An active military air base is at Naval Air Station Lemoore in Kings County and the 144th Fighter Wing is stationed at Fresno Air National Guard Base in Fresno County

Notes

Variations on significant/influential definitions of the term ''central California'' are collected in this section. The following counties are self-described as being in central California or central within California: * Fresno County ** Fresno County's intro paragraph on its web site says it is in central California. * Madera County ** Madera County describes itself as located "in the exact center of California." ** Madera County Economic Development Commission describes the county as "located in the geographical center of California". * Tulare County ** Tulare County describes itself as "centrally located within the State of California". The following are definitions by influential organizations: * The National Register of Historic Places splits California three ways with lines across the map, with central California being approximately above Los Angeles County and below Santa Clara and Merced Counties. * The California Department of Transportation, or CalTrans, has a wide definition of the central portion of the state with several multi-county districts which have "central" in the name, combining the Central Coast and California Central Valley, Central Valley. The ''North Central'' district covers Sacramento to Chico, California, Chico. The ''Central'' district covers Stockton to Merced, and Yosemite. The ''South Central'' district covers Madera, Fresno, and Bakersfield. The ''Central Coast'' district covers Santa Cruz to Monterey. * The Central California chapter of the Better Business Bureau defines their central California region to exclude the coastal counties and include Mono, Inyo and Kern Counties. Their definition is Fresno County, Inyo County, Kern County, Kings County, California, Kings County, Madera County, Mariposa County, Merced County, Mono County, and Tulare County.

References

;General ;Specific *

External links

Central Valley Tourism Association

CA Central Valley & Foothills
project area of th
American Land Conservancy

{{California Regions of California Northern California