Butte County, California

Butte County () is a county located in the northern central part of the U.S. state of California. In the 2020 census, its population was 211,632. The county seat is Oroville.

Butte County comprises the Chico, California, metropolitan statistical area. It is in the California Central Valley, north of the state capital of Sacramento.

Butte County is drained by the Feather River and the Sacramento River. Butte Creek and Big Chico Creek are additional perennial streams, both tributary to the Sacramento. The county is home to California State University, Chico and Butte College.

History

Butte County is named for the visually striking + Sutter Buttes in neighboring Sutter County. Butte County was incorporated as one of California's 27 original counties on February 18, 1850. The county went across the present limits of the Tehama, Plumas, Colusa, and Sutter Counties. Suffragists from Butte County including Minnie Sharkey Abrams played a notable role in the women's suffrage campaign in 1911.

Between November 8 and 25, 2018, a major wildfire, the Camp Fire, destroyed most of the town of Paradise, the adjacent community of Concow, and a large area of rural, hilly country east of Chico. More than 80 people were killed, 50,000 were displaced, over 150,000 acres were burned, and nearly 20,000 buildings were destroyed. The Camp Fire was California's most destructive and deadliest fire.

On July 24, 2024, the Park Fire ignited in Bidwell Park, four miles south of downtown Chico. Ronnie Dean Stout II, a Chico resident, has been accused of arson for starting the fire by allegedly pushing a car that was on fire down an embankment. Over the course of the next 64 days, the fire expanded into Tehama County, burned 429,603 acres, killed one person, and destroyed 709 structures. It became the largest wildfire caused by arson in the state's history, the fourth largest fire in the state's history, the largest fire of the 2024 California wildfire season, and the second largest single fire in the state's history (as opposed to a complex fire, with multiple ignition points).

Geography

thumb|South Table Mountain Near Oroville

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which (2.4%) are covered by water.

|align-fn=center

|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census

<br />1790–1960 1900–1990<br />1990–2000 2010

79.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 21.0% lived in rural areas.

There were 83,268 households in the county, of which 27.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them and 28.7% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present. About 28.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

There were 90,133 housing units, of which 7.6% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 56.2% were owner-occupied and 43.8% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.5% and the rental vacancy rate was 4.7%.

!Pop 1990

!Pop 2000

!Pop 2010

!style="background-color: #ffffb3;" | Pop 2020

!% 1980

!% 1990

!% 2000

!% 2010

!style="background-color: #ffffb3;" |% 2020

|White alone (NH)

|130,522

|158,242

|162,564

|165,416

|style='background: #ffffe6; |139,651

|90.73%

|86.89%

|80.01%

|75.19%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |65.99%

|Black or African American alone (NH)

|1,686

|2,238

|2,699

|3,133

|style='background: #ffffe6; |3,320

|1.17%

|1.23%

|1.33%

|1.42%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |1.57%

|Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)

|2,062

|2,946

|3,295

|3,395

|style='background: #ffffe6; |3,050

|1.43%

|1.62%

|1.54%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |1.44%

|Asian alone (NH)

|1,287

|4,961

|6,676

|8,921

|style='background: #ffffe6; |10,333

|0.89%

|2.72%

|3.29%

|4.06%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |4.88%

|Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)

|273

|401

|style='background: #ffffe6; |508

|0.13%

|0.18%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.24%

|Other race alone (NH)

|752

|127

|435

|318

|style='background: #ffffe6; |1,184

|0.52%

|0.07%

|0.21%

|0.14%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.56%

|Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)

|5,890

|7,300

|style='background: #ffffe6; |13,474

|2.90%

|3.32%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |6.37%

|Hispanic or Latino (any race)

|7,542

|13,606

|21,339

|31,116

|style='background: #ffffe6; |40,112

|5.24%

|7.47%

|10.50%

|14.14%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |18.95%

|Total

|143,851

|182,120

|203,171

|220,000

|style='background: #ffffe6; |211,632

|100.00%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |100.00%

2010 Census

The 2010 United States census reported that Butte County had a population of 220,000. The racial makeup of Butte County was 180,096 (81.9%) White, 3,415 (1.6%) African American, 4,395 (2.0%) Native American, 9,057 (4.1%) Asian, 452 (0.2%) Pacific Islander, 12,141 (5.5%) from other races, and 10,444 (4.7%) from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 31,116 persons (14.1%).

{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed"

!colspan="10"|Population reported at 2010 United States census

| |||| || || || || || || ||

| Butte County

|align="right"|220,000||align="right"|180,096||align="right"|3,415||align="right"|4,395||align="right"|9,057||align="right"|452||align="right"|12,141||align="right"|10,444||align="right"|31,116

| |||| || || || || || || ||

|Biggs

|align="right"|1,707||align="right"|1,302||align="right"|11||align="right"|54||align="right"|9||align="right"|1||align="right"|252||align="right"|78||align="right"|580

|Chico

|align="right"|86,187||align="right"|69,606||align="right"|1,771||align="right"|1,167||align="right"|3,656||align="right"|210||align="right"|5,437||align="right"|4,340||align="right"|15,000

|Gridley

|align="right"|6,584||align="right"|4,283||align="right"|55||align="right"|98||align="right"|249||align="right"|3||align="right"|1,552||align="right"|344||align="right"|3,000

|Oroville

|align="right"|15,546||align="right"|11,686||align="right"|453||align="right"|573||align="right"|1,238||align="right"|56||align="right"|554||align="right"|986||align="right"|1,945

|Paradise

|align="right"|26,218||align="right"|24,129||align="right"|112||align="right"|301||align="right"|330||align="right"|24||align="right"|416||align="right"|906||align="right"|1,836

| |||| || || || || || || ||

|Bangor

|align="right"|646||align="right"|543||align="right"|5||align="right"|17||align="right"|4||align="right"|1||align="right"|18||align="right"|58||align="right"|47

|Berry Creek

|align="right"|1,424||align="right"|1,249||align="right"|8||align="right"|48||align="right"|13||align="right"|3||align="right"|13||align="right"|90||align="right"|98

|Butte Creek Canyon

|align="right"|1,086||align="right"|1,011||align="right"|0||align="right"|20||align="right"|18||align="right"|1||align="right"|8||align="right"|28||align="right"|48

|Butte Meadows

|align="right"|40||align="right"|38||align="right"|0||align="right"|0||align="right"|0||align="right"|0||align="right"|0||align="right"|2||align="right"|0

|Butte Valley

|align="right"|899||align="right"|782||align="right"|0||align="right"|19||align="right"|9||align="right"|1||align="right"|42||align="right"|46||align="right"|89

|Cherokee

|align="right"|69||align="right"|48||align="right"|0||align="right"|2||align="right"|8||align="right"|0||align="right"|0||align="right"|11||align="right"|1

|Clipper Mills

|align="right"|142||align="right"|131||align="right"|0||align="right"|3||align="right"|0||align="right"|0||align="right"|2||align="right"|6||align="right"|5

|Cohasset

|align="right"|847||align="right"|764||align="right"|8||align="right"|14||align="right"|2||align="right"|1||align="right"|20||align="right"|38||align="right"|43

|Concow

|align="right"|710||align="right"|611||align="right"|0||align="right"|24||align="right"|5||align="right"|3||align="right"|10||align="right"|57||align="right"|56

|Durham

|align="right"|5,518||align="right"|5,088||align="right"|19||align="right"|55||align="right"|35||align="right"|9||align="right"|165||align="right"|147||align="right"|614

|Forbestown

|align="right"|320||align="right"|262||align="right"|4||align="right"|15||align="right"|10||align="right"|0||align="right"|4||align="right"|25||align="right"|23

|Forest Ranch

|align="right"|1,184||align="right"|1,116||align="right"|8||align="right"|6||align="right"|4||align="right"|1||align="right"|20||align="right"|29||align="right"|52

|Honcut

|align="right"|370||align="right"|248||align="right"|6||align="right"|14||align="right"|4||align="right"|0||align="right"|85||align="right"|13||align="right"|145

|Kelly Ridge

|align="right"|2,544||align="right"|2,287||align="right"|20||align="right"|56||align="right"|35||align="right"|7||align="right"|43||align="right"|96||align="right"|204

|Magalia

|align="right"|11,310||align="right"|10,398||align="right"|40||align="right"|141||align="right"|90||align="right"|17||align="right"|134||align="right"|490||align="right"|765

|Nord

|align="right"|320||align="right"|233||align="right"|1||align="right"|6||align="right"|16||align="right"|0||align="right"|48||align="right"|16||align="right"|122

|Oroville East

|align="right"|8,280||align="right"|6,830||align="right"|126||align="right"|477||align="right"|294||align="right"|8||align="right"|147||align="right"|398||align="right"|702

|Palermo

|align="right"|5,382||align="right"|3,901||align="right"|39||align="right"|221||align="right"|246||align="right"|4||align="right"|642||align="right"|329||align="right"|1,281

|Rackerby

|align="right"|204||align="right"|193||align="right"|0||align="right"|1||align="right"|0||align="right"|0||align="right"|3||align="right"|7||align="right"|18

|Richvale

|align="right"|244||align="right"|216||align="right"|0||align="right"|11||align="right"|0||align="right"|0||align="right"|10||align="right"|7||align="right"|27

|Robinson Mill

|align="right"|80||align="right"|74||align="right"|0||align="right"|1||align="right"|0||align="right"|1||align="right"|0||align="right"|4||align="right"|11

|South Oroville

|align="right"|5,742||align="right"|3,407||align="right"|406||align="right"|245||align="right"|885||align="right"|9||align="right"|361||align="right"|429||align="right"|851

|Stirling City

|align="right"|295||align="right"|264||align="right"|1||align="right"|11||align="right"|0||align="right"|0||align="right"|1||align="right"|18||align="right"|17

|Thermalito

|align="right"|6,646||align="right"|4,594||align="right"|61||align="right"|257||align="right"|1,102||align="right"|37||align="right"|270||align="right"|325||align="right"|713

|Yankee Hill

|align="right"|333||align="right"|305||align="right"|2||align="right"|7||align="right"|4||align="right"|0||align="right"|5||align="right"|10||align="right"|22

| |||| || || || || || || ||

|All others not CDPs (combined)

|align="right"|29,123||align="right"|24,497||align="right"|259||align="right"|531||align="right"|791||align="right"|55||align="right"|1,879||align="right"|1,111||align="right"|4,486

2000

As of the census of 2000, there were 203,171 people, 79,566 households, and 49,410 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 85,523 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 84.5% White, 10.5% of the population were Hispanic or Latino, 3.3% Asian, 1.9% Native American, 1.4% Black or African American, 0.2% Pacific Islander, 4.8% from other races, and 3.9% from two or more races. 87.9% spoke English, 7.8% Spanish and 1.4% Hmong as their first language.

There were 79,566 households, out of which 28.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.7% were married couples living together, 11.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.9% were non-families. 27.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.48 and the average family size was 3.02.

In the county, the population was spread out, with 24.0% under the age of 18, 13.6% from 18 to 24, 24.8% from 25 to 44, 21.8% from 45 to 64, and 15.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 96.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.6 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $31,924, and the median income for a family was $41,010. Males had a median income of $34,137 versus $25,393 for females. The per capita income for the county was $17,517. About 12.2% of families and 19.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 23.8% of those under age 18 and 7.3% of those age 65 or over.

Health and crime

There are four major hospitals and the State of California defines Butte County as being inside Health Service Area 1. A special district, the Butte County Air Quality Management District, regulates airborne pollutant emissions in the county. It does this following regional regulations, state, and federal laws. For example, in recent years, the agency changed rules that once allowed residents to burn household trash outdoors.

The following table includes the number of incidents reported and the rate per 1,000 persons for each type of offense.

{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed"

! colspan="3" | Population and crime rates

! scope="row" style="text-align: left;" | Population

| colspan="2" | 220,000

! scope="row" style="text-align: left;" | Violent crime

| 970 || 4.25

! scope="row" style="text-align: left;" |   Homicide

| 3,765 || 17.17

! scope="row" style="text-align: left;" |   Motor vehicle theft

! data-sort-type="number" | Violent crimes

Voter registration statistics

{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed"

! colspan="3" | Population and registered voters

! scope="row" style="text-align: left;" | Total eligible population

| colspan="2" | 164,755

! scope="row" style="text-align: left;" |   Registered voters

| 123,935

| 75.2%

! scope="row" style="text-align: left;" |     Democratic<br /> The county is in .

According to the California Secretary of State, as of February 10, 2019, Butte County has 172,054 registered voters. Of those, 42,093 (34.4%) are registered Democrats, 41,330 (33.8%) are registered Republicans and 30,377 (24.8%) have declined to state a political party.

On November 4, 2008, Butte County voted 56.7% for Proposition 8 which amended the California Constitution to ban same-sex marriages.

Federal

Butte County is in .

Butte is a bellwether county in presidential elections, and one of only thirteen to have voted for Barack Obama in 2008, Mitt Romney in 2012, Donald Trump in 2016, and Joe Biden in 2020.

Education

thumb|[[California State University, Chico was founded in 1887]]

Public schools

There are roughly 90 public schools in the county according to the National Center for Educational Statistics.

The following school districts cover portions of the county:

K-12:

Biggs Unified School District
Chico Unified School District
Durham Unified School District
Gridley Unified School District
Marysville Joint Unified School District
Paradise Unified School District

Secondary:

Ghost towns

Bidwell's Bar – now located under Lake Oroville
Butte Creek
Coutolenc
Diamondville
Forks of Butte – a former gold mining settlement
Hamilton - Butte County's first permanent county seat, John Bidwell discovered gold at Hamilton in 1848, and the settlement arose. It was located on the west side of the Feather River, downstream from Oroville.
Lynchburg

Population ranking

The population ranking of the following table is based on the 2020 census of Butte County.

† county seat

{| class="wikitable sortable"

!Rank

!City/Town/etc.

!Municipal type

!Population (2020 Census)

|- style="background-color:#FFFACD;"

| 1

|Chico

| City

| 101,475

|- style="background-color:#FFFACD;"

| 2

|† Oroville

| City

| 20,042

|- style="background-color:#F0FFF0;"

| 3

|Oroville East

| CDP

| 8,038

|- style="background-color:#F0FFF0;"

| 4

|Magalia

| CDP

| 7,795

|- style="background-color:#FFFACD;"

| 5

|Gridley

| City

| 7,421

|- style="background-color:#F0FFF0;"

| 6

|Thermalito

| CDP

| 7,198

|- style="background-color:#F0FFF0;"

| 7

|Durham

| CDP

| 5,834

|- style="background-color:#F0FFF0;"

| 8

|Palermo

| CDP

| 5,555

|- style="background-color:#F0F8FF;"

| 9

|Paradise

| Town

| 4,764

|- style="background-color:#F0FFF0;"

| 10

|South Oroville

| CDP

| 3,235

|- style="background-color:#F0FFF0;"

| 11

|Kelly Ridge

| CDP

| 3,006

|- style="background-color:#FFFACD;"

| 12

|Biggs

| City

| 1,964

|- style="background-color:#F0FFF0;"

| 13

|Berry Creek

| CDP

| 1,637

|- style="background-color:#F0FFF0;"

| 14

|Forest Ranch

| CDP

| 1,304

|- style="background-color:#F0FFF0;"

| 15

|Butte Valley

| CDP

| 945

|- style="background-color:#F0FFF0;"

| 16

|Cohasset

| CDP

| 830

|- style="background-color:#F0FFF0;"

| 17

|Butte Creek Canyon

| CDP

| 780

|- style="background-color:#F0FFF0;"

| 18

|Bangor

| CDP

| 695

|- style="background-color:#F0FFF0;"

| 19

|Concow

| CDP

| 402

|- style="background-color:#F0FFF0;"

| 20

|Forbestown

| CDP

| 396

|- style="background-color:#F0FFF0;"

| 21

|Honcut

| CDP

| 306

|- style="background-color:#F0FFF0;"

| 22

|Nord

| CDP

| 286

|- style="background-color:#F0FFF0;"

| 23

|Stirling City

| CDP

| 284

|- style="background-color:#F0FFF0;"

| 24

|Yankee Hill

| CDP

| 260

|- style="background-color:#F0FFF0;"

| 25

|Richvale

| CDP

| 234

|- style="background-color:#F0FFF0;"

| 26

|Rackerby

| CDP

| 210

|- style="background-color:#F0FFF0;"

| 27

|Clipper Mills

| CDP

| 160

|- style="background-color:#FFFF99;"

| 28

|Berry Creek Rancheria

| AIAN

| 136

|- style="background-color:#F0FFF0;"

| 29

|Robinson Mill

| CDP

| 89

|- style="background-color:#F0FFF0;"

| 30

|Cherokee

| CDP

| 88

|- style="background-color:#F0FFF0;"

| 31

|Butte Meadows

| CDP

| 74

|- style="background-color:#FFFF99;"

| 32

|Enterprise Rancheria

| AIAN

| 4

In popular culture

Several movies have been filmed in Butte County, including Gone with the Wind, The Outlaw Josey Wales, Friendly Persuasion, Magic Town, The Klansman,

Notes

;Notes

;References

References

External links

Butte County Association of Governments

History

Geography

2010 Census

2000

Health and crime

Voter registration statistics

Federal

Education

Public schools

Ghost towns

Population ranking

In popular culture

See also

Notes

References

External links