Madera County

The name Madera is Spanish for "wood," a reference to the county's early lumber industry. Portions of Yosemite National Park lie within the county, and tourism, along with agriculture—particularly almonds, grapes, and pistachios—form major parts of the local economy. According to the United States Census Bureau, the county’s median household income is below the state average, and its poverty rate is higher than the California average.

• Name — Madera County • Settlement Type — County • Blank Emblem Type — Logo • Named For — Spanish word meaning "wood" • Subdivision Type — Country • Subdivision Name — United States • Subdivision Type1 — State • Subdivision Name1 — California • Subdivision Type2 — Regions • Subdivision Name2 — San Joaquin Valley & Sierra Nevada • Subdivision Type3 — Metropolitan area • Subdivision Name3 — Metropolitan Fresno • Seat Type — County seat • Seat — Madera • Seat1 Type — Largest city • Seat1 — Madera • Unit Pref — US • Area Total Sq Mi — 2153 • Area Land Sq Mi — 2137 • Area Water Sq Mi — 16 • Elevation Max Ft — 13143 • Population As Of — 2020 • Population Total — 156255 • Pop Est As Of — 2025 • Population Est — 167927 • Population Density Sq Mi — auto • Demographics Type2 — GDP • Demographics2 Title1 — Total • Demographics2 Info1 — $7.738 billion (2022) • Established Title — Incorporated • Established Date — 1893 • Government Type — Council–CAO • Governing Body — Board of Supervisors • Leader Title1 — Chair • Leader Name1 — Robert Macaulay • Leader Title2 — Chair Pro Tem • Leader Name2 — Jordon Wamhoff • Leader Title3 — Board of Supervisors • Leader Title4 — County Administrative Officer • Leader Name4 — Jay Varney • Timezone — Pacific Time Zone • Utc Offset — −8 • Timezone Dst — Pacific Daylight Time • Utc Offset Dst — −7 • Mapsize1 — 200px • Blank Name Sec1 — FIPS code • Blank Info Sec1 — 06-039 • Blank1 Name Sec1 — GNIS feature ID • Blank2 Name Sec1 — Congressional districts • Blank2 Info Sec1 — 5th, 13th • Website — www.maderacounty.com

• Illustration — Logging in the Sierra, Madera County, c. 1901 Madera is the Spanish term for wood. The county derives its name from the town of Madera, named when the California Lumber Company built a log flume to carry lumber to the Central Pacific Railroad there in 1876.

Madera County was formed in 1893 from Fresno County during a special election held in Fresno on May 16, 1893. Citizens residing in the area that was to become Madera County voted 1,179 to 358 for separation from Fresno County and the establishment of Madera County. The election commission was chaired by Henry Clay Daulton. The split was opposed primarily by ranchers in the hills afraid of flatlanders near Madera controlling the county's politics. The Madera County Sheriff's Department employed the first woman in California to die in the line of duty as a sworn law enforcement officer—Tulare native Lucille Helm (1914–1959). For 15 years, the Madera housewife and mother of four worked on call as a "matron" assisting with female transfers.

• Illustration — Mono Native American couple living near Northfork, California, ca. 1920 The region now known as Madera County was historically inhabited by the Mono, Chukchansi, and Miwok. The Mono lived along the upper San Joaquin River, including areas near North Fork and Crane Valley. The Chukchansi occupied lands around present-day Oakhurst, Coarsegold, Ahwahnee, and the lower foothills of the San Joaquin Valley. The Miwok lived in the areas of Ahwahnee, Wawona, Mariposa, and the Yosemite Valley. Following the California Gold Rush, many Native American communities were displaced during events such as the Mariposa War and by the Act for the Government and Protection of Indians. The establishment of the Sierra National Forest in 1897 required land-use permits available only to citizens, which excluded Native Americans until citizenship was extended under the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924.

The county's history of immigration and migration dates back to the California Gold Rush, when people from across the United States and abroad settled in the area. Chinese laborers contributed to construction of the Madera Flume and worked in the Sugar Pine lumber yards. Their numbers declined after federal immigration restrictions such as the Chinese Exclusion Act and the Immigration Act of 1917. Mexican immigrants later filled many of these labor roles. Following the Mexican–American War, the region retained a significant population of residents of Mexican (Californio) descent.

In the 1930s, Madera County received significant numbers of refugees from the Dust Bowl, particularly from Oklahoma and Arkansas. During the mid-20th century, the Bracero Program brought agricultural laborers from Mexico to address shortages during World War II and the Korean War. The Madera County Chamber of Commerce supported extending the program, which ended in 1964. After the program ended, migration from Mexico continued. By the 1990s, an estimated 5,000 Mixtec migrants from Oaxaca were working in the county’s agricultural sector.

• Illustration — The highest point in Madera county is Mount Ritter, standing at 13149 ft. Madera County includes portions of the San Joaquin Valley, the Sierra Nevada foothills, and the Sierra Nevada mountains. Part of Yosemite National Park lies within the county. Major waterways include sections of the San Joaquin River and several reservoirs. The county has a total area of 2153 sqmi, of which 2137 sqmi is land and 16 sqmi, or 0.8 percent, is water. The highest point is Mount Ritter, at 13149 ft. Climate ranges from arid in the valley to alpine in the higher elevations of the Sierra Nevada. Madera County is part of the Madera AVA wine region.

• Devils Postpile National Monument • Inyo National Forest (part) • Sierra National Forest (part) • Yosemite National Park (part)

As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 156,255 and a median age of 35.0 years; 27.5 percent of residents were under the age of 18 and 14.7 percent were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 99.4 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 98.0 males age 18 and over. The racial makeup of the county was 41.8% White, 2.9% Black or African American, 4.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 2.5% Asian, 0.1% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 31.6% from some other race, and 16.2% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 59.6% of the population. 61.4% of residents lived in urban areas, while 38.6 percent lived in rural areas. There were 45,607 households in the county, of which 42.6 percent had children under the age of 18 living with them and 23.5 percent had a female householder with no spouse or partner present. About 17.2 percent of all households were made up of individuals and 9.3 percent had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. There were 49,572 housing units, of which 8.0 percent were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 64.0 percent were owner-occupied and 36.0 percent were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.4 percent and the rental vacancy rate was 3.1 percent.

According to the 2022 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, the county's median household income was $76,920, compared to $91,551 for California and $69,717 nationally, and the poverty rate was 24.3 percent, higher than the state average of 12.2 percent and the national average of 22.0 percent. The homeownership rate was 69.0 percent, compared with 55.8 percent statewide, and median gross rent was $1,189, below the California average of $1,870. Educational attainment was below the state average, with 21.4 percent of residents holding a bachelor's degree or higher. In 2022, 59.6 percent of residents identified as Hispanic or Latino, 20.3 percent of the population was foreign-born, and about 46.5 percent reported speaking a language other than English at home.

Estimates place the number of undocumented immigrants in the county between 12,500 and 15,000.

• Illustration — Typical log felled in Sugar Pine, 1915 Madera County's origins are deeply rooted in boom-and-bust cycles, primarily driven by extractive industries. Initially, the county's economy was heavily reliant on mineral extraction and timber harvesting. Over time, agriculture and related industries became the predominant employer and economic force.

Gold mining in Madera County began during the California Gold Rush. When the county was created in 1893 from a portion of Fresno County, it included many of the region's productive mines. These were located along the contact between the Sierra Nevada batholith and older schist and slate formations, extending from Grub Gulch to Hildreth. Grub Gulch developed in the late 19th century as a mining settlement near present-day Highway 49. At its peak, the town supported several businesses, including saloons, a general store, a post office, and a boarding house. Of the estimated $1.35 million in gold extracted from Madera County, about $1 million came from mines in the Grub Gulch area. By the 1950s, production had declined to dredging operations along the Fresno, Chowchilla, and San Joaquin Rivers, with little activity after 1959.

In the mid-20th century, tungsten was mined in Madera County's High Sierra near Mammoth Lakes, Central Camp, and Fish Camp. The Strawberry Tungsten Mine was valued at $1 million in 1955 and by 1981 had the capacity to process 310 metric tons of ore daily. Mining in the region declined in the 1980s due to lower tungsten prices and competition from imports, particularly from China. Tungsten production in Madera County and the Sierra Nevada has since ceased.

• Illustration — The record-breaking Madera log flume was 65 mi long. The first sawmill in Madera County was constructed in 1852 on the east fork of Redwood Creek, north of Oakhurst, in an area known as Old Corral. It supplied lumber to miners and settlers in the Coarsegold and Fresno Flats (now Oakhurst) areas. In 1854, Charles Converse and Bill Chitister relocated the mill to Crane Valley, now Bass Lake. In 1872, the California Lumber Company established a steam mill near Nelder Grove and constructed a 65 mi log flume to transport lumber to Madera. The company was reorganized in 1874 and operated for several decades. Logging operations in the county declined during the Great Depression. Activity resumed in 1941 with the opening of a new sawmill in North Fork, which used trucks and modern equipment to reach deeper areas of the Sierra National Forest. The industry contracted again in the early 1990s due to federal regulations that reduced timber harvests. The North Fork mill closed in February 1994. The annual North Fork Loggers Jamboree commemorates the county's logging history.

Madera County's employment sectors are a blend of traditional industries like farming and manufacturing, coupled hospitality and service-oriented fields. Based on the average employment percentages from 2015 to 2022, the employment sectors in Madera County are ranked as follows: Madera County employment sectors • Sector — Employment share • Government — 12.71% • Farm — 12.08% • Health & education — 11.08% • Wholesale & retail trade — 5.45% • Leisure — 4.26% • Professional services — 3.63% • Manufacturing — 3.31% • Construction — 2.14% • Transportation and utilities — 1.44% • Financial activities — 0.71% • Information — 0.30% The sectors that saw the largest decrease in the period were information (-25%), financial activities (-12.50%) and manufacturing (-5.71%). Government, health and education, and professional sectors are forecast to be the fastest growing employment sectors.

Agriculture is a major sector of Madera County's economy. In 2022, the county's gross crop value was reported at $1.9 billion. The leading commodities were almonds, grapes, and pistachios. Cattle ranching and pollination services also ranked among the county’s top five agricultural sectors. Madera County ranked first in California for fig production, and fourth statewide in almonds, pistachios, and grapes (primarily raisin varieties). Leading crops of Madera County • Commodity — 2022 rank — 2022 dollar value — 2021 rank • Almonds, nuts & hulls — 1 — $570,739,000 — 1 • Milk — 2 — $454,727,000 — 2 • Grapes — 3 — $233,893,000 — 3 • Pistachios — 4 — $227,873,000 — 4 • Pollination — 5 — $66,880,000 — 5 • Cattle & calves — 6 — $62,317,000 — 6 • Mandarins & tangerines — 7 — $45,036,000 — 7 • Corn silage — 8 — $37,293,000 — 9 • Replacement heifers — 9 — $34,255,000 — 8 • Alfalfa, hay & silage — 10 — $26,845,000 In the 1990s, Mixtec farmworkers were a large presence in the southern part of the state, and were beginning to filter northwards here along with other Mexican indigenous agricultural laborers to work in the county's farms.

Madera County is mostly covered by the State Center Community College District centered on Fresno City College in Fresno. Other districts with territory within Madera County also include the West Hills Community College District and the Merced Community College District. School districts include: Unified: • Chawanakee Unified School District • Firebaugh-Las Deltas Unified School District • Golden Valley Unified School District • Madera Unified School District • Yosemite Unified School District - includes some sections zoned for K-12 and some for grades 9–12 only Secondary: • Chowchilla Union High School District Elementary: • Alview-Dairyland Union Elementary School District • Bass Lake Joint Union Elementary School District • Chowchilla Elementary School District • Raymond-Knowles Union Elementary School District

Madera County is organized as a General Law County under the provision of the California Government Code. The county has five supervisorial districts and one supervisor is elected from each district every four years. The government of Madera County is mandated by the California Constitution to have a five-member board of supervisors elected to staggered four-year terms. The board consists of: District 1, Jordan Wamhoff; District 2, David Rogers; District 3, Robert Poythress; District 4, Leticia Gonzalez; District 5, Robert Macaulay; and County Administrator Jay Varney. Staff provide for voter registration and elections, law enforcement, jails, vital records, property records, tax collection, public health, roads, and social services for the entire county. It is the local government for all unincorporated areas. Other elected offices include Sheriff Tyson Pogue, District Attorney Sally Orme Moreno, Assessor Brian Glover (acting), Auditor-Controller David Richstone, Treasurer-Tax Collector Tracy Kennedy, and Clerk/Registrar of Voters-Recorder Rebecca Martinez.

The sheriff's office and staff provide court protection, jail administration, and coroner service for all of Madera County with its total population of approximately 156,000 residents. The sheriff provides police patrol and detective services to the unincorporated areas of the county, which contain approximately 70,000 residents, or 45% of Madera County's total population. The sheriff's main station and offices are in the City of Madera. There are two sheriff's substations: Oakhurst, population 3,000, and the Madera Ranchos, population 12,000, both on Highway 41 to Yosemite National Park in the Sierras.

The municipal police departments within Madera County are Madera, the county seat, population 62,000, and Chowchilla, population 19,600.

Madera County has three correctional facilities. The Madera County Jail is managed by the elected sheriff.Valley State Prison is a state-run prison located in Chowchilla. The Central California Women's Facility is also in Chowchilla, across from Valley State Prison. Inmates are counted in the county's census population.

• Population and registered voters • Total population — 149,611 • Registered voters — 53,782 — 35.9% • Democratic — 18,212 — 33.9% • Republican — 23,858 — 44.4% • Democratic–Republican spread — -5,646 — -10.5% • Independent — 1,615 — 3.0% • Green — 208 — 0.4% • Libertarian — 264 — 0.5% • Peace and Freedom — 131 — 0.2% • Americans Elect — 0 — 0.0% • Other — 191 — 0.4% • No party preference — 9,303 — 17.3%

• Cities by population and voter registration • City — data-sort-type="number" | Population — data-sort-type="number" | Registered voters — data-sort-type="number" | Democratic — data-sort-type="number" | Republican — data-sort-type="number" | D–R spread — data-sort-type="number" | Other — data-sort-type="number" | No party preference • Chowchilla — 18,465 — 22.5% — 30.8% — 45.1% — -14.3% — 9.0% — 18.8% • Madera — 60,221 — 26.8% — 44.9% — 33.1% — +11.8% — 6.2% — 18.4%

Madera is a strongly Republican county in presidential and congressional elections. The last Democrat to win a majority in the county was Jimmy Carter in 1976. Madera is split between the 5th and 13th congressional districts, represented by and, respectively. With respect to the California State Assembly, the county is split between, and. In the California State Senate, Madera is split between, and. On November 4, 2008, Madera County voted 73.4% for Proposition 8, which amended the California Constitution to define marriage as a union between one man and one woman. The county is one of three counties in California to establish a separate department to deal with corrections, pursuant to California Government Code §23013, the Madera County Department of Corrections, along with Napa County and Santa Clara County. The officers receive their powers under 831 and 831.5 of the California Penal Code.

The following table includes the number of incidents reported and the rate per 1,000 persons for each type of offense. • Population and crime rates • Population — 149,611 • Violent crime — 685 — 4.58 • Homicide — 3 — 0.02 • Forcible rape — 36 — 0.24 • Robbery — 162 — 1.08 • Aggravated assault — 484 — 3.24 • Property crime — 2,144 — 14.33 • Burglary — 1,166 — 7.79 • Larceny-theft — 1,484 — 9.92 • Motor vehicle theft — 520 — 3.48 • Arson — 18 — 0.12

• Cities by population and crime rates • City — data-sort-type="number" | Population — data-sort-type="number" | Violent crimes — data-sort-type="number" | Violent crime rate per 1,000 persons — data-sort-type="number" | Property crimes — data-sort-type="number" | Property crime rate per 1,000 persons • Chowchilla — 19,221 — 115 — 5.98 — 446 — 23.20 • Madera — 62,796 — 466 — 7.42 — 1,621 — 25.81

• The Balls • Bass Lake • Chukchansi Gold Resort & Casino • Corlieu Falls • Ducey's Bass Lake Lodge • The Forks Resort • Fresno Dome • Hensley Lake • Madera AVA • Mammoth Pool Reservoir • Mount Ritter • Nelder Grove • The Pines Resort • Shuteye Peak • Sierra Vista Scenic Byway • Willow Creek • Yosemite National Park

• State Route 41 • State Route 49 • State Route 99 • State Route 145 • State Route 152 • State Route 233

• Illustration — Minaret Summit, located on the border between Madera and Mono counties, is inaccessible by road from the rest of Madera County. Eastern Madera County includes areas such as Devils Postpile National Monument and Minaret Summit that are not accessible by road from the rest of the county. Access is through California State Route 203, which crosses into Mono County and connects to Mammoth Lakes. Red's Meadow Road branches from this route to reach Devils Postpile. A gap of less than 10 mi separates the end of Minaret Road, extending northeast from North Fork, from the terminus of Red's Meadow Road in the Eastern Sierra. In the 20th century, proposals were advanced to link the San Joaquin Valley and the Eastern Sierra by highway or tunnel across Minaret Summit. To preserve the option for such a project, an area southwest of the summit was excluded from the Wilderness Act of 1964. In the 1970s, Governor Ronald Reagan opposed the highway proposal after visiting the region. The area was later designated as wilderness under the California Wilderness Act of 1984.

• Madera County Connection provides service between the cities of Madera and Chowchilla. Routes also run to eastern Madera County. A connection to Fresno can be made at Valley Children's Hospital near the county line. • The cities of Madera and Chowchilla also have their own local, intracity transit services named Madera Metro and Chowchilla Area Transit, respectively. • Greyhound buses and Amtrak trains stop in Madera.

• Madera Municipal Airport and Chowchilla Airport are general aviation airports.

• Illustration — Aerial view from Madera, California, toward the snow-capped Sierras. Eastman Lake (upper left) is on the border of Madera County and Mariposa County. Hensley Lake (upper right) is near the center of Madera County. Madera Lake (lower left) is on the outskirts of Madera.

• Chowchilla • Madera (county seat)

• Ahwahnee • Bass Lake • Bonadelle Ranchos • Coarsegold • Fairmead • La Vina • Madera Acres • Madera Ranchos • Nipinnawasee • North Fork • Oakhurst • Parksdale • Parkwood • Rolling Hills • Yosemite Lakes

• Knowles • O'Neals • Raymond • Ripperdan • Sugar Pine • Sumner Hill

The population ranking of the following table is based on the 2010 census of Madera County. † county seat • Rank — City/town — Municipal type — Population (2010 Census) • 1 — † Madera — City — 61,416 • 2 — Chowchilla — City — 18,720 • 3 — Madera Acres — CDP — 9,163 • 4 — Bonadelle Ranchos-Madera Ranchos — CDP — 8,569 • 5 — Yosemite Lakes — CDP — 4,952 • 6 — Oakhurst — CDP — 2,829 • 7 — Parksdale — CDP — 2,621 • 8 — Parkwood — CDP — 2,268 • 9 — Ahwahnee — CDP — 2,246 • 10 — Coarsegold — CDP — 1,840 • 11 — Fairmead — CDP — 1,447 • 12 — Rolling Hills — CDP — 742 • 13 — Bass Lake — CDP — 527 • 14 — Nipinnawasee — CDP — 475 • 15 — La Vina — CDP — 279 • 16 — Picayune Rancheria (Chukchansi Indians) — AIAN — 69 • 17 — Northfork Rancheria (Mono Indians) — AIAN — 60