County hub small town California

Butte County, CA

Aggregated demographic, housing, and geographic context for the 20 ZIP codes inside Butte County, drawn from public Census ACS and SimpleMaps data.

ZIP codes
20
in this county
Total population
217,862
across all listed ZIPs
Cities
16
distinct city/town names
Avg density
233
people / sq mi
Avg median income
household, ACS
Avg home value
owner-occupied

ZIP codes in Butte County

ZIPCityPopulationDensityMedian income
95926 Chico 43,402 2,154
95928 Chico 38,594 103
95973 Chico 38,490 50
95966 Oroville 29,203 66
95965 Oroville 21,891 27
95948 Gridley 12,010 61
95954 Magalia 11,234 34
95969 Paradise 9,032 69
95917 Biggs 4,162 20
95938 Durham 4,030 23
95942 Forest Ranch 1,892 11
95968 Palermo 1,265 272
95916 Berry Creek 1,112 5
95930 Clipper Mills 546 28
95914 Bangor 518 9
95941 Forbestown 290 3
95978 Stirling City 114 1,184
95974 Richvale 77 71
95929 Chico
95958 Nelson

About Butte County

Counties are the workhorse unit of American local government — they administer property taxes, run the courts and sheriff’s office, manage many road and library systems, and in much of the country they collect public health and zoning data that ZIP codes don’t. Butte County in California contains roughly 20 ZIP codes spread across 16 distinct cities and unincorporated communities, with an aggregate population of about 217,862. Reading those ZIPs together at the county level smooths over neighborhood-by-neighborhood noise and surfaces the broader economic and demographic shape of the area. For block-level detail, drill into any individual ZIP profile or compare against the wider California index.

The average density across listed ZIPs sits at roughly 233, which classifies the county overall as a small town environment. That label is a generalization — nearly every county contains both a relatively dense core and quieter outlying ZIPs, and the gap between them is often what determines where you actually want to live or open a business. Average median household income in our enriched ZIPs lands near —, with average owner-occupied home values around —; both numbers move dramatically as you cross from one ZIP to the next, so use the table above as a sorting tool, not a verdict.

If you’re moving into Butte County, the county itself is also where most of your real-life paperwork will land — vehicle registration, voter registration, property recording, and school district enrollment in many states. Knowing the county that contains your prospective ZIP makes it much easier to look up the right tax assessor, election office, or school district website. Our relocation guide walks through the order in which to tackle these handoffs after a move.

For service-area planning, the county is also where most US business licensing and many sales-tax rules are administered. Service businesses scoping Butte County should pair this aggregate view with the individual ZIP profiles to identify the densest, highest-income pockets first, then expand outward along whatever transportation corridor matches their delivery model.