Sonora is the county seat of Tuolumne County, California, United States. Founded during the California Gold Rush by Mexican miners from Sonora (after which the city is named), the city population was 5,121 during the 2020 Census, an increase of 91 from the 4,903 counted during the 2010 Census.
Sonora is the only incorporated community in Tuolumne County.
History
Sonora was founded by Mexican miners during the California Gold Rush. Named after their home state of Sonora, Mexico, it was once a booming center of industry and trade in California's Mother Lode. Most of the gold that was removable with traditional mining techniques was quickly extracted, leaving miners to use more complex and expensive mining techniques to reach deep pockets of quartz and gold. Sonora as well as other mining towns of the era experienced economic hardship when the value of gold decreased. As "gold fever" died down, Sonora's size and population steadily decreased over the years. In , the Sonora Hebrew Cemetery was formed by the Hebrew Benevolent Society and is mostly the graves of European-born Jews who emigrated to Gold Country.
As detailed in the 2005 memoir of novelist David Carkeet, Campus Sexpot, Sonora was fictionalized as "Wattsville", the setting of Dale Koby's cult/underground classic (also titled Campus Sexpot). The sequel, From Roundheel To Revolutionary by Jeff Daiell, also takes place primarily in "Wattsville"/Sonora.
A local museum preserves the town's Gold Rush legacy.
Geography
Sonora is located at , around the intersection of California State Highways 49 and 108 The altitude is . According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , 99.55% of it land and 0.45% of it water.
Climate
There are an average of 75 days annually with highs of or higher and an average of 65.5 days annually with lows of or lower. The record high temperature was on June 22, 1961, and July 15, 1972. The record low temperature was on December 9, 1972.
Average annual rainfall is , almost all from November through April, although there are occasionally afternoon and evening thunderstorms in the summer months, which drift down from the Sierra Nevada. There are an average of 63.8 days annually with measurable precipitation. The wettest “rain year” has been from July 1982 to June 1983 with and the driest from July 1975 to June 1976 with . The most rainfall in one month was in December 1955, including on December 27, the record 24-hour rainfall. The most snowfall in one month was in January 1933. The Köppen Climate Classification subtype for this climate is Csa (hot-summer Mediterranean climate).
Demographics
2010
At the 2010 census Sonora had a population of 4,903. The population density was . The racial makeup of Sonora was 4,402 (89.8%) White, 24 (0.5%) African American, 95 (1.9%) Native American, 79 (1.6%) Asian, 12 (0.2%) Pacific Islander, 84 (1.7%) from other races, and 207 (4.2%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 542 people (11.1%).
The census reported that 4,613 people (94.1% of the population) lived in households, 85 (1.7%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 205 (4.2%) were institutionalized.
There were 2,199 households, 562 (25.6%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 689 (31.3%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 308 (14.0%) had a female householder with no husband present, 116 (5.3%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 192 (8.7%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 12 (0.5%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 881 households (40.1%) were one person and 312 (14.2%) had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.10. There were 1,113 families (50.6% of households); the average family size was 2.77.
The age distribution was 975 people (19.9%) under the age of 18, 526 people (10.7%) aged 18 to 24, 1,266 people (25.8%) aged 25 to 44, 1,324 people (27.0%) aged 45 to 64, and 812 people (16.6%) who were 65 or older. The median age was 39.7 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.9 males.
There were 2,463 housing units at an average density of 800.2 per square mile, of the occupied units 898 (40.8%) were owner-occupied and 1,301 (59.2%) were rented. The homeowner vacancy rate was 4.6%; the rental vacancy rate was 8.6%. 1,960 people (40.0% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 2,653 people (54.1%) lived in rental housing units.