Clearlake, California

Clearlake, California
City
Redbud Park Redbud Park
Template:Infobox settlement/columns
Motto(s):  "On the shores of beautiful Clear Lake"
Coordinates: 38°57′30″N 122°37′35″W
Country	United States
State	California
County	Lake
Incorporated (city)	November 14, 1980
Named for	Clear Lake
Area
• Total	Template:Infobox settlement/areadisp
• Land	Template:Infobox settlement/areadisp
• Water	Template:Infobox settlement/areadisp  4.27%
Elevation	Template:Infobox settlement/lengthdisp
Population  (2020)
• Total	16,685
• Density	Template:Infobox settlement/densdisp
Time zone	UTC-8 (Pacific (PST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-7 (PDT)
ZIP code	95422
Area code	707, 369
FIPS code	Template:FIPS
GNIS feature IDs	Template:GNIS 4, Template:GNIS 4
Website	Official city website

Clearlake is a city in Lake County, California, United States. Clearlake is 4.5 miles (7.2 km) north-northwest of Lower Lake, at an elevation of 1,417 feet (432 m). As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 16,685, up from 15,250 in the 2010 census. It takes its name from Clear Lake.

History

The Clearlake post office opened in 1923, under the name of "Konocti" then the name was changed to Clearlake Highlands until the town's incorporation in 1981 when the official name became City of Clearlake.

The first inhabitants of Clearlake were the Pomo Indians, who named many of the area's features, including Mount Konocti. Beginning in 1821, enslavement and mistreatment by Spanish soldiers and missionaries, Mexican land barons, European settlers, and gold diggers, combined with a lack of natural immunity to European diseases, resulted in a massive wave of deaths. The result of this was massive amounts of land freed up for the white settlers who arrived during the gold rush.

Geography

Clearlake is located at 38°57'30" North, 122°37'35" West.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 10.6 square miles (27 km²), of which 10.1 square miles (26 km²) is land and 0.5 square miles (1.3 km²) is water. The total area is 4.27% water.

Climate

Clearlake has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen: Csa) with hot, dry summers and cool, wet winters. Diurnal temperature variation is high, especially in the summer. Snowfall is rare.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, Clearlake had a population of 16,685 and a population density of 1,647.3 inhabitants per square mile (636.0/km²).

The age distribution was 25.3% under the age of 18, 7.6% aged 18 to 24, 25.2% aged 25 to 44, 24.8% aged 45 to 64, and 17.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37.5 years. For every 100 females, there were 103.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 101.0 males age 18 and over.

The census reported that 99.4% of the population lived in households, 0.2% lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0.5% were institutionalized. There were 6,366 households, out of which 31.9% included children under the age of 18. Of all households, 31.0% were married-couple households, 10.0% were cohabiting couple households, 32.0% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present, and 27.0% had a male householder with no spouse or partner present. 31.8% of households were one person, and 15.3% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.6. There were 3,762 families (59.1% of all households).

There were 7,665 housing units at an average density of 756.7 units per square mile (292.2 units/km²), of which 6,366 (83.1%) were occupied. Of these, 54.6% were owner-occupied, and 45.4% were occupied by renters. 16.9% of housing units were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.5%, and the rental vacancy rate was 5.4%.

97.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 3.0% lived in rural areas.

Racial composition as of the 2020 census

Race	Number	Percent
White	9,895	59.3%
Black or African American	570	3.4%
American Indian and Alaska Native	448	2.7%
Asian	170	1.0%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander	30	0.2%
Some other race	3,129	18.8%
Two or more races	2,443	14.6%
Hispanic or Latino (of any race)	5,406	32.4%

2023 estimate

In 2023, the US Census Bureau estimated that the median household income was $41,580, and the per capita income was $19,944. About 17.6% of families and 25.4% of the population were below the poverty line.

2010 census

At the 2010 census, Clearlake had a population of 15,250. The population density was 1,441.3 inhabitants per square mile (556.5/km²). The racial makeup of Clearlake was 11,262 (73.8%) White, 614 (4.0%) African American, 400 (2.6%) Native American, 161 (1.1%) Asian, 27 (0.2%) Pacific Islander, 1,805 (11.8%) from other races, and 981 (6.4%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3,248 persons (21.3%).

The census reported that 14,790 people (97.0% of the population) lived in households, 366 (2.4%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 94 (0.6%) were institutionalized.

There were 5,970 households, 1,859 (31.1%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 1,957 (32.8%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 1,013 (17.0%) had a female householder with no husband present, 448 (7.5%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 650 (10.9%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 71 (1.2%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 1,898 households (31.8%) were one person and 739 (12.4%) had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.48. There were 3,418 families (57.3% of households); the average family size was 3.11.

The age distribution was 3,656 people (24.0%) under the age of 18, 1,528 people (10.0%) aged 18 to 24, 3,384 people (22.2%) aged 25 to 44, 4,389 people (28.8%) aged 45 to 64, and 2,293 people (15.0%) who were 65 or older. The median age was 39.9 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.6 males.

There were 8,035 housing units at an average density of 759.4 per square mile (293.2/km²), of which 3,190 (39.7) were owner-occupied, 2,780 (34.6%) were occupied by renters and 2065 (25.7%) were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 5.9%; the rental vacancy rate was 12.1%. 7,595 people (49.8% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 7,195 people (47.2%) lived in rental housing units.

Government

In the state legislature, Clearlake is in Template:Representative, and in Template:Representative.

Federally, Clearlake is in Template:Representative.

Infrastructure

According to a 2012 road report, approximately 44% of the city's roads are unpaved, including dozens of miles of urban residential streets.

Notable people

• Michael Berryman, actor
• Randy Hennis, baseball player, was born in Clearlake

See also

• Eastlake Landfill