San Bernardino County ( ), officially the County of San Bernardino, is located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California, and is located within the Inland Empire area. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 2,181,654, making it the fifth-most populous county in California, and the 14th-most populous in the United States. As part of the Greater Los Angeles area, San Bernardino County is included in the Riverside–San Bernardino–Fontana metropolitan statistical area, and has San Bernardino as its county seat.

With an area of , San Bernardino County is the largest county in the contiguous United States by area. However, some of Alaska's boroughs and census areas are larger. The county is close to the size of West Virginia or the country of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and spans an area from south of the San Bernardino Mountains in San Bernardino Valley, to the Nevada border and the Colorado River.

89% of the population resides in three Census County Divisions (Fontana, San Bernardino, and Victorville-Hesperia), counting 1.93 million people as of the 2020 Census across just 9% of the county area. With a population that is 53.7% Hispanic, it is California's most populous majority-Hispanic county and the second-largest nationwide.

History

Indigenous The indigenous peoples that lived in what is now San Bernardino County were primarily the Taaqtam (Serrano) and ʔívil̃uqaletem (Cahuilla) peoples who lived in the San Bernardino Valley and the San Bernardino Mountains; the Chemehuevi and the Kawaiisu peoples who lived in the Mojave Desert region; and the 'Aha Makhav (Mohave) and the Piipaash (Maricopa) peoples who lived along the Colorado River. These groups established various villages and settlements throughout the region that were interconnected by extensive trails.

Wa'aachnga was a major Tongva village site, also occupied by the Serrano and Cahuilla, located near what is now the city of San Bernardino. The village was part of a trade network along the Mohave Trail that connected villages in San Bernardino County from the Colorado River to the Los Angeles Basin. Wá'peat was a Desert Serrano village located near what is now the city of Hesperia. It was part of a series of villages located along the Mojave River. By the late 1700s, villages in the area were being increasingly encroached upon by Spanish soldiers and missionaries, who were coming into the region from Mission San Gabriel.

Spanish era Spanish Missionaries from Mission San Gabriel Arcángel established a church at the village of Wa'aachnga, which would be renamed Politania in 1810. Father Francisco Dumetz named the church San Bernardino on May 20, 1810, after the feast day of St. Bernardino of Siena. The Franciscans also gave the name San Bernardino to the snowcapped peak in Southern California, in honor of the saint and it is from him that the county derives its name. In 1819, they established the San Bernardino de Sena Estancia, a mission farm in what is now Redlands.

Mexican era Following Mexican independence from Spain in 1821, Mexican citizens were granted land grants to establish ranchos in the area of the county. Rancho Jurupa in 1838, Rancho Cucamonga and El Rincon in 1839, Rancho Santa Ana del Chino in 1841, Rancho San Bernardino in 1842 and Rancho Muscupiabe in 1844.

Agua Mansa was the first town in what became San Bernardino County, settled by immigrants from New Mexico on land donated from the Rancho Jurupa in 1841.

Establishment

Following the purchase of Rancho San Bernardino and the establishment of Fort San Bernardino (then later the town of San Bernardino) in 1851 by Mormon colonists, San Bernardino County was formed in 1853 from parts of Los Angeles County by an act of the California State Legislature. Some of the southern parts of the county's territory were given by an act of the legislature to Riverside County in 1893.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.2%) is water. It is the largest county by area in California and the largest in the United States (excluding boroughs in Alaska). (See "Download the Database " for an explanation of this data set.) It is slightly larger than the states of New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware and Rhode Island combined, and is also slightly larger than Switzerland. It borders both Nevada and Arizona.

The bulk of the population, nearly two million, live in the roughly 480 square miles south of the San Bernardino Mountains adjacent to Riverside and in the San Bernardino Valley in the southwestern portion of the county. About 390,000 residents live just north of the San Bernardino Mountains, in and around the roughly 280 square-mile area that includes the Victor Valley. Roughly another 100,000 people live scattered across the rest of the sprawling county.

The Mojave National Preserve covers some of the eastern desert, especially between Interstate 15 and Interstate 40. The desert portion also includes the cities of Needles next to the Colorado River and Barstow at the junction of Interstate 15 and Interstate 40. Trona is at the northwestern part of the county, west of Death Valley. This national park, mostly within Inyo County, also has a small portion of land within San Bernardino County. The largest metropolitan area in the Mojave Desert part of the county is the Victor Valley, with the incorporated localities of Adelanto, Apple Valley, Hesperia, and Victorville. Further south, a portion of Joshua Tree National Park overlaps the county near the High Desert area, in the vicinity of Twentynine Palms. The remaining towns make up the remainder of the High Desert: Pioneertown, Yucca Valley, Joshua Tree, Landers, and Morongo Valley.

The mountains are home to the San Bernardino National Forest, and include the communities of Crestline, Lake Arrowhead, Running Springs, Big Bear City, Forest Falls, and Big Bear Lake.

The San Bernardino Valley is at the eastern end of the San Gabriel Valley. The San Bernardino Valley includes the cities of Ontario, Chino, Chino Hills, Upland, Fontana, Rialto, Colton, Grand Terrace, Montclair, Rancho Cucamonga, San Bernardino, Loma Linda, Highland, Redlands, and Yucaipa.

Adjacent counties

As shown by the map on the left, San Bernardino County is bordered on the north by Inyo County; on the northeast by Clark County, Nevada; on the east by Mohave County, Arizona; on the southeast by La Paz County, Arizona; on the south by Riverside County; on the southwest by Orange County; on the west by Los Angeles County; and on the northwest by Kern County.

National protected areas

Angeles National Forest (part) Death Valley National Park (part) Havasu National Wildlife Refuge (part) Joshua Tree National Park (part) Mojave National Preserve San Bernardino National Forest (part) Sand to Snow National Monument (part)

More than 80% of the county's land is owned by the federal government. There are at least 35 official wilderness areas in the county that are part of the National Wilderness Preservation System. This is the largest number of any county in the United States (although not the largest in total area). The majority are managed by the Bureau of Land Management, but some are integral components of the above listed national protected areas. Most of these wilderness areas lie entirely within the county, but a few are shared with neighboring counties (and two of these are shared with the neighboring states of Arizona and Nevada).

Except as noted, these wilderness areas are managed solely by the Bureau of Land Management and lie within San Bernardino County:

Bigelow Cholla Garden Wilderness Bighorn Mountain Wilderness (part) Black Mountain Wilderness Bristol Mountains Wilderness Cadiz Dunes Wilderness Chemehuevi Mountains Wilderness Cleghorn Lakes Wilderness Clipper Mountain Wilderness Cucamonga Wilderness Dead Mountains Wilderness Death Valley Wilderness (part) Golden Valley Wilderness Grass Valley Wilderness Havasu Wilderness (part) Hollow Hills Wilderness Joshua Tree Wilderness (part) Kelso Dunes Wilderness Kingston Range Wilderness Mesquite Wilderness Mojave Wilderness Newberry Mountains Wilderness North Mesquite Mountains Wilderness Old Woman Mountains Wilderness Pahrump Valley Wilderness (part) Piute Mountains Wilderness Rodman Mountains Wilderness Saddle Peak Hills Wilderness (part) San Gorgonio Wilderness (part) Sheep Mountain Wilderness (part) Sheephole Valley Wilderness Stateline Wilderness Stepladder Mountains Wilderness Trilobite Wilderness Turtle Mountains Wilderness Whipple Mountains Wilderness

Demographics

2020 census As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 2,181,654 and a median age of 34.9 years; 25.3% of residents were under the age of 18 and 12.7% were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 97.8 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 95.8 males age 18 and over.

The racial makeup of the county was 35.9% White, 8.5% Black or African American, 1.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 8.4% Asian, 0.3% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 28.5% from some other race, and 16.6% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 53.7% of the population.

94.6% of residents lived in urban areas, while 5.4% lived in rural areas.

There were 667,836 households in the county, of which 40.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them and 25.8% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present. About 18.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

There were 731,899 housing units, of which 8.8% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 60.8% were owner-occupied and 39.2% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.3% and the rental vacancy rate was 5.0%.

+San Bernardino County, California – Racial and ethnic compositionRace / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)Pop 1980Pop 1990Pop 2000Pop 2010 Pop 2020% 1980% 1990% 2000% 2010% 2020White alone (NH)653,303862,113752,222677,598566,11372.99%60.78%44.00%33.29%25.95%Black or African American alone (NH)46,615109,162150,201170,700173,3225.21%7.70%8.79%8.39%7.94%Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)10,08410,0189,8048,5238,4121.13%0.71%0.57%0.42%0.39%Asian alone (NH)14,92955,38778,154123,978176,2041.67%3.90%4.57%6.09%8.08%Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)x included in the Asian category in the 1980 Censusx included in the Asian category in the 1990 Census4,3875,8456,1730.26%0.29%0.26%0.29%0.28%Other race alone (NH)4,2223,1183,0394,05512,1170.47%0.22%0.18%0.20%0.56%Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)x not an option in the 1980 Censusx not an option in the 1990 Census42,24043,36668,400xx2.47%2.13%3.14%Hispanic or Latino (any race)165,863378,582669,3871,001,1451,170,91318.53%26.69%39.16%49.19%53.67%Total895,0161,418,3801,709,4342,035,2102,181,654 100.00%100.00%100.00%100.00%100.00%

2010 census The 2010 United States census reported that San Bernardino County had a population of 2,035,210. The racial makeup of San Bernardino County was 1,153,161 (56.7%) White, 181,862 (8.9%) African American, 22,689 (1.1%) Native American, 128,603 (6.3%) Asian, 6,870 (0.3%) Pacific Islander, 439,661 (21.6%) from other races, and 102,364 (5.0%) from two or more races. There were 1,001,145 people of Hispanic or Latino origin, of any race (49.2%).