Tomales is a census-designated place (CDP) on State Route 1 in Marin County, California, United States. The population was 187 at the 2020 census.

The CDP has a total area of , all land.

The "Tomalles" post office opened in 1854, and changed its spelling to "Tomales" before 1879.

Starting in the 1870s, Tomales was a stop on the North Pacific Coast Railroad connecting Cazadero to the Sausalito ferry.

Built near the San Andreas Fault, Tomales was affected by the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. One of the town's two cemeteries predates the earthquake, and the damage to the pre-1906 plots shows just how widespread the quake's effects were.

Demographics

Tomales first appeared as a census designated place in the 2000 U.S. census.

!Pop 2010

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

!% 2000

!% 2010

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

|-

|White alone (NH)

|198

|184

|style='background: #ffffe6; |157

|94.29%

|90.20%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |83.96%

|-

|Black or African American alone (NH)

|1

|0

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0

|0.48%

|0.00%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.00%

|-

|Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)

|2

|3

|style='background: #ffffe6; |4

|0.95%

|1.47%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |2.14%

|-

|Asian alone (NH)

|3

|4

|style='background: #ffffe6; |4

|1.43%

|1.96%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |2.14%

|-

|Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)

|0

|0

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0

|0.00%

|0.00%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.00%

|-

|Other race alone (NH)

|0

|0

|style='background: #ffffe6; |1

|0.00%

|0.00%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.53%

|-

|Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)

|1

|4

|style='background: #ffffe6; |7

|0.48%

|1.96%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |3.74%

|-

|Hispanic or Latino (any race)

|5

|9

|style='background: #ffffe6; |14

|2.38%

|4.41%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |7.49%

|-

|Total

|210

|204

|style='background: #ffffe6; |187

|100.00%

|100.00%

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

|}

2020

The 2020 United States census reported that Tomales had a population of 187. The population density was . The racial makeup of Tomales was 157 (84.0%) White, 0 (0.0%) African American, 4 (2.1%) Native American, 5 (2.7%) Asian, 0 (0.0%) Pacific Islander, 8 (4.3%) from other races, and 13 (7.0%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 14 persons (7.5%).

The census reported that 182 people (97.3% of the population) lived in households, 5 (2.7%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and no one was institutionalized.

The age distribution was 16 people (8.6%) under the age of 18, 8 people (4.3%) aged 18 to 24, 38 people (20.3%) aged 25 to 44, 63 people (33.7%) aged 45 to 64, and 62 people (33.2%) who were 65years of age or older. The median age was 57.2years. There were 90 males and 97 females.

The census reported that 100% of the population lived in households.

There were 99 households, 13 (13.1%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 47 (47.5%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 9 (9.1%) had a female householder with no husband present, 2 (2.0%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 10 (10.1%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 1 (1.0%) same-sex married couple or partnership. 32 households (32.3%) were one person and 6 (6.1%) had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.06. There were 58 families (58.6% of households); the average family size was 2.55.

The age distribution was 22 people (10.8%) under the age of 18, 12 people (5.9%) aged 18 to 24, 43 people (21.1%) aged 25 to 44, 93 people (45.6%) aged 45 to 64, and 34 people (16.7%) who were 65 or older. The median age was 50.5 years. For every 100 females, there were 85.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 80.2 males.

There were 122 housing units at an average density of , of which 59.6% were owner-occupied and 40.4% were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.6%; the rental vacancy rate was 7.0%. 61.8% of the population lived in owner-occupied housing units and 38.2% lived in rental housing units.

2000

At the 2000 census, the median household income was $51,953 and the median family income was $52,708. Males had a median income of $41,607 versus $46,389 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $26,609. None of the families and 14.3% of the population were living below the poverty line, including no under eighteens and 14.3% of those over 64.

Education

The CDP is served by the Shoreline Unified School District. Shoreline USD operates Tomales Elementary School and Tomales High School. The high school is the largest employer in Tomales and has a student body of approximately 190 from northwestern Marin County and southwestern Sonoma County.

Much of the 2001 movie Bandits was filmed in and around Tomales, as were the opening shots of Mumford (1999), and parts of Scream (1996), and Village of the Damned (1995).

References

  • Tomales website