Arcata, California

Arcata population, 2020 to 2024

Arcata lost 89 residents from July 2020 to July 2024, a change of -0.5%. In the latest year it moved by -281. Among 429 California places of 5,000 or more, that growth ranks 184th; the median place changed by -1.1%. The median place of 5,000+ in California has 37,056 people, so Arcata is 51% of it.

Arcata covers 9.42 square miles of land and 1.96 of water, for 1,990 people per square mile of land. The median California place of 5,000+ has 3,725, so Arcata is less dense than the typical town.

What county Arcata is in

All of Arcata's residents live in Humboldt County, which had 132,380 residents in 2024. Arcata holds 14.2% of the county's population. The shaded shape is on the map above; dots mark the eight nearest places.

ZIP codes in Arcata

1 ZIP Code Tabulation Area (ZCTA) overlaps Arcata by at least 10% of the ZCTA's or the city's land: 95521. ZCTAs are Census approximations of USPS ZIP code delivery areas. The list comes from the 2020 ZCTA to place relationship file, so a city that annexed land after 2020 may reach into ZIP codes not listed here.

Where Arcata is

The Census internal point of Arcata is at 40.862300, -124.075000. Sacramento, the capital, is 209.1 miles SE in a straight line. The nearest larger place is Eureka, CA (25,412 people), 6.1 miles away. The nearest city of 100,000 or more is Chico, CA, 141.2 miles away.

Daylight in Arcata

At 40.86° N, Arcata gets about 15 h 07 min of daylight around the June solstice and 9 h 14 min around the December solstice, a swing of 5 h 52 min. Figures are sunrise to sunset from the SunCalc model for June 21 and December 21, 2026.

Places near Arcata

The eight nearest incorporated places of 1,000+ in California, measured between internal points. The closest is Blue Lake, 4.4 miles away, with 1,159 people.