Tulare County, California

Tulare County, California
County
Images, from top down, left to right: Acequia Avenue in Visalia, Allensworth Hotel in Colonel Allensworth State Historic Park, Moro Rock in Sequoia National Park, Lake Kaweah
Flag Seal
Interactive map of Tulare County
Location in the state of California
Coordinates: 36°14′N 118°48′W / 36.23°N 118.80°W / 36.23; -118.80
Country	United States
State	California
Regions	San Joaquin Valley and Sierra Nevada
Metro area	Visalia-Porterville Metropolitan Area
Incorporated	July 10, 1852
Named for	Tulare Lake, which is named for the tule rush that lined its shores
County seat	Visalia
Largest city	Visalia
Incorporated cities	8
Government
• Type	Council–CAO
• Body	Board of Supervisors
• Chair	Larry Micari
• Vice Chair	Pete Vander Poel
• Board of Supervisors[2]	Supervisors Larry Micari Peter Vander Poel Amy Shuklian Eddie Valero Dennis Townsend
• Administrative Officer	Jason Britt[1]
Area
• Total	4,839 sq mi (12,530 km2)
• Land	4,823 sq mi (12,490 km2)
• Water	14 sq mi (40 km2)
Highest elevation [3]	14,501 ft (4,420 m)
Population  (2020)[4]
• Total	473,117
• Density	98/sq mi (38/km2)
GDP [5]
• Total	$22.794 billion (2022)
Time zone	UTC−8 (Pacific)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−7 (PDT)
Area code	559, 661
FIPS code	06-107
GNIS feature ID	277318
Congressional districts	20th, 21st, 22nd
Website	tularecounty.ca.gov

Tulare County (/tʊˈlɛəri/ ^ⓘ tuu-LAIR-ee) is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 473,117.^[4] The county seat is Visalia.^[6] The county is named for Tulare Lake, once the largest freshwater lake west of the Great Lakes. Drained for agricultural development, the site is now in Kings County, which was created in 1893 from the western portion of the formerly larger Tulare County.

Tulare County comprises the Visalia-Porterville, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area. The county is located south of Fresno, spanning from the San Joaquin Valley east to the Sierra Nevada.

Sequoia National Park is located in the county, as is part of Kings Canyon National Park, in its northeast corner (shared with Fresno County), and part of Mount Whitney, on its eastern border (shared with Inyo County). As of the 2020 census, the population was 473,117, up from 442,179 at the 2010 census.