Central California is generally thought of as the middle third of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, north of

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

(which includes

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

and

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

) and south of

Northern California Northern California (commonly shortened to NorCal) is a geocultural region that comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California, spanning the northernmost 48 of the state's List of counties in California, 58 counties. Northern Ca ...

(which includes

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

and San Jose). It includes the northern portion of the

San Joaquin Valley The San Joaquin Valley ( ; Spanish language in California, Spanish: ''Valle de San Joaquín'') is the southern half of California's Central Valley (California), Central Valley. Famed as a major breadbasket, the San Joaquin Valley is an importa ...

(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 Central California and Northern California Northern California (commonly shortened to NorCal) is a geocultural region that ...

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

California Coast Ranges The Coast Ranges of California span from Del Norte County, California, Del Norte or Humboldt County, California, south to Santa Barbara County, California, Santa Barbara County. The other three coastal California mountain ranges are the Trans ...

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 The Sierra Nevada ( ) is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primari ...

. 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

Sacramento Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the seat of Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers in Northern California's Sacramento Valley, Sacramento's 2020 p ...

Fresno Fresno (; ) is a city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County, California, Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley (California), Central Valley region. It covers a ...

Bakersfield Bakersfield is a city in and the county seat of Kern County, California, United States. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley, which is located in the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's population as of the ...

, Stockton,

Modesto Modesto ( ; ) is the county seat and largest city of Stanislaus County, California, United States. With a population of 218,069 according to 2022 U.S. Census Bureau estimates, it is the 19th-most populous city in California. Modesto is locate ...

, Elk Grove, Salinas, Visalia, Clovis,

Merced Merced (; Spanish language, 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 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 86,333, up ...

, Santa Cruz, Turlock, Madera, Lodi, Tulare, Porterville,

Hanford Hanford may refer to: Places *Hanford (constituency), a constituency in Tuen Mun, People's Republic of China *Hanford, Dorset, a village and parish in England *Hanford, Staffordshire, England *Hanford, California, United States *Hanford, Iowa, ...

and Delano. Over time,

droughts A drought is a period of 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, ...

and

wildfires A wildfire, forest fire, or a bushfire is an unplanned and uncontrolled fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identified as a ...

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

water security The aim of water security is to maximize the benefits of water for humans and ecosystems. The second aim is to limit the risks of destructive impacts of water to an acceptable level. These risks include too much water (flood), too little water (d ...

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.

Latitudes

Central California being in the middle of the state starts at 36 parallel north (exact dividing line of Central and Southern California) and ending around 38°30 parallel north (Sacramento County) Yosemite

Counties

The rough definition of Central California includes some or all of the following counties: *

* Kings * Madera * Mariposa *

Monterey Monterey ( ; ) is a city situated on the southern edge of Monterey Bay, on the Central Coast of California. Located in Monterey County, the city occupies a land area of and recorded a population of 30,218 in the 2020 census. The city was fou ...

* San Benito *

San Luis Obispo ; ; ; Chumashan languages, Chumash: ''tiłhini'') is a city and county seat of San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. Located on the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California, San Luis Obispo is roughly halfway betwee ...

* Stanislaus * Tulare * Tuolumne * Calaveras * San Joaquin * Amador * Inyo * Mono Counties That Are Considered Central California (Depending on who you ask) *

* Amador * Alpine * Santa Cruz

Cities

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

Clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...

* Delano *

* Hollister * Lemoore * Lodi *

Lompoc Lompoc ( ; Chumashan ) is a city in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Located on the Central Coast, its population was 43,834 as of July 2021. Lompoc has been inhabited for thousands of years by the Chumash people, who called t ...

* Madera * Mariposa *

Pismo Beach Pismo Beach (Chumashan languages, Chumash: ''Pismuʔ'') is a city in the southern portion of San Luis Obispo County, California, San Luis Obispo County, in the Central Coast (California), Central Coast area of California, United States. Its esti ...

* Paso Robles * Porterville * Salinas *

* Santa Cruz * Santa Maria * Selma *

Sonora Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora (), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is divided into Municipalities of Sonora, 72 ...

* Stockton * Riverbank * Tulare * Turlock * Visalia * Watsonville Greenfield California

Sub-regions

The following regions are entirely contained within central California: *

Big Sur Big Sur () is a rugged and mountainous section of the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of the U.S. state of California, between Carmel Highlands and San Simeon, where the Santa Lucia Range, Santa Lucia Mountains rise abruptly from th ...

Kings Canyon National Park Kings Canyon National Park is a national park of the United States 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 ren ...

* Metropolitan Fresno *

Monterey Bay Monterey Bay is a bay of the Pacific Ocean located on the coast of the U.S. state of California, south of the San Francisco Bay Area. San Francisco itself is further north along the coast, by about 75 miles (120 km), accessible via California S ...

* Pinnacles National Park *

Salinas Valley The Salinas Valley (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Valle de Salinas'') is one of the major valleys and most productive Agriculture, agricultural regions in California. It is located west of the San Joaquin Valley and south of San Francisco Bay and ...

Sequoia National Park Sequoia National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States in the southern Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada east of Visalia, California. The park was established on September 25, 1890, and toda ...

Yosemite National Park Yosemite National Park ( ) is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States in California. It is bordered on the southeast by Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest. The p ...

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 a ...

* Gold Country *

Kern County Kern County is a county (United States), county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 909,235. Its county seat is Bakersfield, California, Bakersfield. Kern County compris ...

Santa Barbara County Santa Barbara County, officially the County of Santa Barbara (), is a county located in Southern California. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 448,229. The county seat is Santa Barbara, and the largest city is Santa M ...

* Santa Cruz County * Sierra Nevada Mountains * Tehachapi Mountains

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 university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university, research university system in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Oakland, California, Oakland, the system is co ...

has one campus in the region.

University of California, Merced The University of California, Merced (UC Merced or colloquially, UCM) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Merced, California, United States. It is one of the ten campuses in the University of ...

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, public university system in California, and the List of largest universities and university networks by enrollment, largest public university system in the United States ...

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 located in Monterey County, California, United States. The main campus is situated on the site of the former military base Fort Ord, spanning the ...

opened on the site of the former

Fort Ord Fort Ord is a former United States Army post on Monterey Bay on 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, California, United States. It is part of the California State University system. It was established in 1957 and offers 45 bachelor's deg ...

in Turlock opened in 1957.

California State University, Fresno California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California, United States. It is part of the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers 60 ba ...

opened in 1911. The

Monterey Institute of International Studies Established in 1955, the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey (MIIS), formerly the Monterey Institute of International Studies, located in Monterey, California, is a graduate institute and satellite campus of Middlebury C ...

is a graduate school that offers eleven master's degree programs in international policy, international management,

language teaching Language education refers to the processes and practices of teaching a second or foreign language. Its study reflects interdisciplinary approaches, usually including some applied linguistics. There are four main learning categories for lan ...

, and

translation Translation is the communication of the semantics, meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The English la ...

and interpretation. The

is a graduate school of

Middlebury College Middlebury College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Middlebury, Vermont, United States. Founded in 1800 by Congregationalism in the United States, Congregationalists, Middlebury w ...

. 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 Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) is a Naval command with a graduate university mission, operated by the United States Navy and located in Monterey, California. The NPS mission is to provide "defense-focused graduate education, including clas ...

and Defense Language Institute are located in Monterey. The following

community college A community college is a type of undergraduate higher education institution, generally leading to an associate degree, certificate, or diploma. The term can have different meanings in different countries: many community colleges have an open enr ...

campus sites are in the region: * Columbia College in Sonora, Tuolumne County * Clovis Community College in Clovis, Fresno County * Fresno City College in Fresno, Fresno County *

Hartnell College Hartnell College is a public community college in Salinas, California. Established in 1920 as Salinas Junior College, Hartnell is one of 115 schools that constitute the California Community Colleges, one of the three higher education systems i ...

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 College of the Sequoias (COS) is a public two-year community college in Visalia, California. The college is named for the Giant Sequoia trees native to the nearby Sierra Nevada mountain range. History College of the Sequoias was originally es ...

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 Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway System, Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels thro ...

and State Route 99 are the primary highways in the San Joaquin Valley. US 101 and State Route 1 are the major coastal highways.

Rail

Passenger rail A passenger train is a train used to transport people along a railroad line, as opposed to a freight train that carries goods. These trains may consist of unpowered passenger railroad cars (also known as coaches or carriages) push-pull train, ...

in the region consists of the Amtrak long-haul ''

Coast Starlight The ''Coast Starlight'' is a Amtrak Long Distance, long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak on the West Coast of the United States between Seattle and Los Angeles via Portland, Oregon, Portland and the San Francisco Bay Area. The train, ...

'' and the regional '' San Joaquins'' routes. The

California High-Speed Rail California High-Speed Rail (CAHSR) is a publicly funded high-speed rail system being developed in California by the California High-Speed Rail Authority. Phase 1, about long, is planned to run from San Francisco, California, San Francisco to ...

system is under construction between Merced and Bakersfield. In Central California, the system will have stations in Merced, Madera, Fresno, and the Kings–Tulare area. Planning is underway to extend the initial line to San Francisco/San Jose and Los Angeles. Freight rail is served by commercial railroads.

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad is a Railroad classes, Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United Stat ...

and

BNSF Railway BNSF Railway is the largest freight railroad in the United States. One of six North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 36,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and over 8,000 locomotives. It has three Transcontinental railroad, transcontine ...

operate mainline freight through the region in the Central Valley.

Air

Major and regional airline services are available at Fresno Yosemite International Airport and Monterey Regional Airport. Regional airline service is also available at Merced Regional Airport. General Aviation airports exist in all ten 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 Naval Air Station Lemoore or NAS Lemoore is a United States Navy base, located in Kings County, California, Kings County and Fresno County, California, Fresno County, California, United States. Lemoore Station, California, Lemoore Station, a cen ...

in Kings County, and the 144th Fighter Wing is stationed at

Fresno Air National Guard Base Fresno (; ) is a city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County, California, Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley (California), Central Valley region. It covers a ...

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 The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

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 The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) is an Executive (government), executive department of the U.S. state of California. The department is part of the Government of California#State agencies, cabinet-level California State Tran ...

, 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 Central Valley. The ''North Central'' district covers

to Chico. The ''Central'' district covers Stockton to

, and

Yosemite Yosemite National Park ( ) is a national park of the United States in California. It is bordered on the southeast by Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest. The park is managed by the National Park Service ...

. The ''South Central'' district covers Madera,

, and

. The ''Central Coast'' district covers Santa Cruz to

. * The Central California chapter of the

Better Business Bureau The Better Business Bureau (BBB) is an American private, 501(c)(6) nonprofit organization founded in 1912. BBB's self-described mission is to focus on advancing marketplace trust, consisting of 92 independently incorporated local BBB organizati ...

defines their central California region to exclude the coastal counties and include Mono, Inyo and Kern Counties. Their definition is

Fresno County Fresno County (), officially the County of Fresno, is a county located in the central portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 1,008,654. The county seat is Fresno, the fifth-most populo ...

, Inyo County,

, 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