San Bernardino County area

Population and density of San Bernardino County

The Census Bureau estimates that 2,224,091 people lived in San Bernardino County on July 1, 2025. That ranks #15 of 3,222 county equivalents nationally and #5 of 58 in California. Since the April 1, 2020 estimates base of 2,181,653, the population has grown by 42,438 (+1.9%), compared with −0.5% for California as a whole.

With 20,068.4 square miles of land, that is 111 people per square mile (43 per km²), placing San Bernardino County #925 nationally for density and #31 in California. The median county equivalent has 47 people per square mile; the California median is 112. Put another way, there are about 5.8 acres of land per resident.

U.S. Census Bureau, Vintage 2025 population estimates. Estimates are revised each year and are not decennial census counts. Density divides the whole population by the whole county’s land area, so it describes an average, not how settlement is distributed within the county. Population sources and methods.

Cities and towns in San Bernardino County

24 incorporated places lie at least partly in San Bernardino County. Together they are home to 1,924,924 people (86.5%); the other 299,167 (13.5%) live outside any incorporated place, in unincorporated communities and rural areas.

The largest is San Bernardino city, with 222,044 residents in the county. By land, Apple Valley town is the largest at 77 mi². Among places with at least 1,000 residents in 2020, Ontario city grew fastest since then (+6.7%).

Population: U.S. Census Bureau Vintage 2025 subcounty estimates, counting only the part of each place inside San Bernardino County. Land: 2026 Census Gazetteer, for the whole place even where it extends into other counties. How communities are listed.

Metropolitan area

San Bernardino County is a central county of the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area. Its 2 county equivalents have 4,769,007 residents on 27,277.5 square miles of land; San Bernardino County accounts for 73.6% of the land and 46.6% of the residents. By combined land it ranks #1 of 393 metropolitan areas, and #12 by population. It belongs to the Los Angeles-Long Beach, CA Combined Statistical Area.

ZIP codes

100 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas have land in San Bernardino County; 91 of them have most of their land inside the county, and the others mainly cover neighboring areas.

89019917019170891709917109173091737917399175991761917629176391764917669178491786922429225292256922679226892277922789228092284922859230192304923059230792308923099231092311923139231492315923169231792320923219232292324923259232792332923339233592336923379233892339923419234292344923459234692347923509235292354923569235892359923639236492365923689236992371923729237392374923769237792378923829238592386923919239292394923959239792398923999240192404924059240792408924109241192415925099288093516935559355893562

ZIP Code Tabulation Areas are the Census Bureau’s approximations of USPS ZIP Code service areas, from the 2020 Census relationship files. Lighter codes have less than half of their land in this county. Post-office-box and single-address ZIP Codes have no tabulation area.

Counties bordering San Bernardino County

San Bernardino County shares a land border with 8 county equivalents, including 3 in Nevada and Arizona. It has more land than every one of them. The largest neighbor is Mohave County (13,332.1 mi²) and the smallest is Orange County (793.2 mi²). Together with its neighbors, San Bernardino County forms a block of 76,183.3 mi² of land, of which it holds 26.3%.

How big is San Bernardino County compared with U.S. states?

San Bernardino County has more land than 9 of the 50 states. It is about 2.1 times the land area of Maryland (9,711 mi²), while West Virginia, the next larger state, has 1.2 times as much land (24,041.4 mi²). California’s county land could hold about 7.8 areas the size of San Bernardino County.

Another way to picture it: the same land area would fill a square about 141.7 miles (228 km) on each side. Real county shapes are rarely square, so this is a scale reference rather than a width or driving distance.

State figures are the sums of each state’s county-equivalent land measurements in the same Census release, so states and counties are compared on the same basis. Published state totals can differ slightly because of rounding. Compare all states · Counties bigger than entire states.

What stands out about San Bernardino County?

San Bernardino County has more land than 3,212 of the other 3,221 county equivalents in the dataset.

A median is the middle county-equivalent measurement, not the average of the largest and smallest. All three bars use the same linear scale. Very small areas may appear as a thin sliver; the labels retain their values.

Does including water change its rank?

Using land plus water places San Bernardino County at #12 nationally by total area, 2 places farther from the top than its land rank. Other county equivalents gain more area when their water measurements are included.

Its water share is 0.2%, compared with a national county-equivalent median of 1.2% — 1 percentage points lower. This describes the statistical geography’s land/water mix, not flood exposure or developable land.

Closest positions in the national land ranking

These entries sit immediately beside San Bernardino County in the national ranking. They can be in different states and are not necessarily geographic neighbors.

Calculated from the same Census release as the area table. Total-area order uses original ALAND + AWATER; water shares and chart labels use published square miles. Calculation details.