Ridgecrest, California

Ridgecrest, California
City
College Heights Blvd., Ridgecrest
Seal
Location in Kern County and the state of California
Ridgecrest Location in the United States Show map of southern California Ridgecrest Ridgecrest (California) Show map of California Ridgecrest Ridgecrest (the United States) Show map of the United States
Coordinates: 35°37′21″N 117°40′15″W / 35.62250°N 117.67083°W / 35.62250; -117.67083
Country	United States
State	California
County	Kern
Incorporated	November 29, 1963[1]
Government
• Mayor	Eric A. Bruen[2]
• State senator	Melissa Hurtado (D)[3]
• Assemblymember	Tom Lackey (R)[4]
• U. S. rep.	Vince Fong (R)[5]
Area [6]
• Total	21.53 sq mi (55.76 km2)
• Land	20.88 sq mi (54.08 km2)
• Water	0.65 sq mi (1.69 km2)  3.04%
Elevation [7]	2,290 ft (698 m)
Population  (April 1, 2020)
• Total	27,959
• Density	1,300/sq mi (500/km2)
Time zone	UTC−08:00 (Pacific)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−07:00 (PDT)
ZIP Codes	93555–93556
Area codes	442 and 760
FIPS code	06-60704
GNIS feature IDs	1652783, 2410944
Website	www.ridgecrest-ca.gov

Ridgecrest is a city in Kern County, California, United States, along U.S. Route 395 in the Indian Wells Valley in northeastern Kern County, adjacent to the Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake (NAWS, or China Lake). It was incorporated as a city in 1963. The population was 27,959 at the 2020 census, up slightly from 27,616 at the 2010 census.

Ridgecrest is surrounded by four mountain ranges; the Sierra Nevada on the west, the Cosos on the north, the Argus Range on the east, and the El Paso Mountains on the south. It is approximately 82 miles (132 km) from the Lancaster/Palmdale area, 110 miles (177 km) from Bakersfield, and 120 miles (193 km) from San Bernardino, the three nearest major urban centers. Private air travel in and out of the city is provided through the Inyokern Airport. There are currently no scheduled commercial flights.

The city has been near the epicenter of major earthquakes, including one in 1995 and a series of quakes in July 2019.