County Maps US

Modoc County, California

A county in California, ranked 56 of 58 by population.

CountyFIPS 06049

Within California
Modoc County, highlighted, with the areas around it. Boundaries generalised from the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file; neighbour fills carry no data. The dot marks Alturas, the county seat, located via the 2025 Census Gazetteer.

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Population
8,426
-253 (-2.9%) since 2020
Land area
3,948
square miles. A further 6.1% of the total area is water
Population density
2.1
people per square mile, computed rather than published
County seat
Alturas
Seat of county government.
Established
1874
151 years ago
Largest city
Alturas city
Population 2,634.

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; Wikidata (CC0), Wikidata. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

Satellite view

Aerial imagery of Modoc County with its boundary drawn on top. A map shows you the shape; this shows you what is inside it, and which side of the line a place falls on.

Aerial view of Modoc County, California from the USGS National Map, with its boundary outlined
Imagery: USGS National Map, USGS Imagery Only, public domain, requested from USGS by your browser when you reach this point on the page, at 800 by 619 pixels. The boundary is the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file, reprojected to Web Mercator to match the imagery. You can also open the USGS National Map viewer.

Where Modoc County ranks

Position among the 58 counties of California, and among all 3,144 US counties and county-equivalents. Computed from the figures on this page.

MeasureValueIn CaliforniaNationally
Population8,42656th of 582,548th of 3,144
Land area3,948 sq mi12th of 58126th of 3,144
Population density2.1 per sq mi56th of 582,972nd of 3,144
Median household income$59,45555th of 582,128th of 3,143

Full data for Modoc County

Every figure below is attributed to the Census Bureau product it came from, with the vintage of that product.
MeasureValueSource and vintage
Population8,426Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Population in 20208,679Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
2020 estimates base?8,707Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Land area3,948 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Water area255 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Total area4,203 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Population density?2.1 per sq miComputed: Vintage 2025 estimates divided by 2025 Gazetteer land area
Median household income$59,455American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median home value$224,700American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median age47.5American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Households3,267American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Housing units4,764American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; US Census Bureau, American Community Survey, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates, released 29 January 2026. Population density is computed here, not published: it divides the Vintage 2025 population estimate by the 2025 Gazetteer land area, which are two different Census products. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

How the population changed

The Census Bureau publishes the components behind an estimate, not just the total. For the year to July 2025:

Births minus deaths
-86
50 births, 136 deaths
Net migration
-24
More people moved out than moved in.

Source: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

The 6 areas bordering Modoc County

Ordered by the length of the border actually shared, which the Census Bureau publishes in its county adjacency file and which no other county reference presents.

Bordering areaStateShared borderPopulation
Lassen CountyCalifornia69 mi28,117
Siskiyou CountyCalifornia57 mi42,013
Washoe CountyNevada56 mi509,386
Lake CountyOregon45 mi8,187
Klamath CountyOregon29 mi70,274
Shasta CountyCalifornia6.0 mi181,648

Source: US Census Bureau, County Adjacency File, 2025 County Adjacency File, released 15 September 2025. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

All 58 counties of California

Open the interactive California county map, or jump straight to any of them.

Data on this page last rebuilt 30 August 2026. How these figures are produced.