The land was occupied for thousands of years by theYokuts. Beginning in the eighteenth century, Spain established missions to colonize California and convert the American Indians to Christianity. ComandantePedro Fages, while hunting for deserters in the Central Valley in 1772, discovered a greatlake surrounded bymarshes and filled withrushes; he named itLos Tules (the tules). It is from this lake that the county derives its name. The root of the nameTulare is found in theNahuatl wordtullin, designatingcattail or similar reeds.
In 1805, 1806 and again in 1816, the Spanish out of Mission San Luis Obispo explored Lake Tulare.[7] Bubal was a native village located on the Western side of Lake Tulare. In 1816, Fr. Luis Martinez ofMission San Luis Obispo arrived at Bubal with soldiers and armed Christian NorthernChumash pressuring the people to send their children for baptism at his mission on the coast. Conflict broke out, and Martinez's party burned Bubal to the ground, destroying the cache of food harvested for the winter.[8] Although Bubal's relationship with the ChristianSalinans under Fr. Cabot atMission San Miguel was better, between 1816 and 1834, Bubal was a center of native resistance. The marshes around Lake Tulare were impenetrable by Spanish horses, which gave the Yokuts a military advantage. At one point, the Spanish considered building a presidio with 100 soldiers at Bubal to control the resistance, but that never came to pass. The Spanish called the natives of the area Tulareños, and before 1816 and after 1834, they were incorporated into Mission San Miguel and Mission San Luis Obispo.[8]
The infectious diseaseTularemia caused by the bacteriumFrancisella tularensis is named after Tulare County.
In 1908 ColonelAllen Allensworth and associates founded the town ofAllensworth as a black farming community. They intended to develop a place where African Americans could thrive free of white discrimination. It was the only community in California founded, financed and governed by African Americans. While its first years were highly successful, the community encountered environmental problems from dropping water tables which eventually caused it to fail. Today the historic area is preserved as theColonel Allensworth State Historic Park, which is listed on theNational Register of Historic Places.
According to theU.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 4,839 square miles (12,530 km2), of which 4,823 square miles (12,490 km2) is land and 14 square miles (36 km2), or 0.3%, is water.[9]
Tulare County is a general law county under theCalifornia Constitution. That is, it does not have a county charter. The county is governed by a five-member Board of Supervisors. Supervisors are elected by districts for four-year terms. There are no term limits in effect. The chairman and vice-chairman are elected annually by the Board of Supervisors from among its members.
The Tulare County Sheriff’s Office provides court protection, county jail operation, patrol and detective functions in the unincorporated areas of the county. Incorporated cities have municipal police departments or contract with the Sheriff’s Office for their police operations.
Tulare County Area Transit (TCaT) provides an intracounty bus service linking the population centers. One TCaT route connects to Delano in Kern County.
As of the2020 census, the county had a population of 473,117 and a median age of 32.3 years; 30.0% of residents were under the age of 18 and 12.2% were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 98.4 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 96.5 males.[31]
According toCensus 2020, 3.7% of residents reported German ancestry, 3.2% English, 2.8% Irish, 2.4% Portuguese, and 2.3% American, while 48.7% spoke English, 47.4% Spanish, and 1.0%Indo-European languages as their first language.[33]
79.9% of residents lived in urban areas, while 20.1% lived in rural areas.[34]
There were 141,987households, of which 45.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 24.6% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present, 16.8% of households were made up of individuals, and 7.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. Of all households, 52.5% were married couples living together, 15.2% had a male householder with no spouse present, 20.8% were non-families, and the average household and family sizes were 3.20 and 3.57 respectively.[31]
There were 150,652 housing units, of which 5.8% were vacant; among occupied units, 58.5% were owner-occupied and 41.5% were renter-occupied, with homeowner and rental vacancy rates of 1.1% and 3.6%, respectively.[31]
The median income for a household in the county was $57,692, and the median income for a family was $53,330. Theper capita income for the county was $23,096.[36] About 18.8% of the population were below thepoverty line, including 26.0% of those under age 18 and 13.8% of those age 65 or over.[36]
Tulare County, California – Racial and ethnic composition Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race.
As of thecensus[47] of 2000, there were 368,021 people, 110,385 households, and 87,093 families residing in the county. Thepopulation density was 76 people per square mile (29 people/km2). There were 119,639 housing units at an average density of 25 units per square mile (9.7 units/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 58.1%White, 1.6%Black orAfrican American, 1.6%Native American, 3.3%Asian, 0.1%Pacific Islander, 30.8% fromother races, and 4.6% from two or more races. 50.8% of the population wereHispanic orLatino of any race. 6.2% were ofAmerican, 5.7%German and 5.0%English ancestry according toCensus 2000. 56.3% spokeEnglish, 38.9%Spanish and 1.1%Portuguese as their first language.
There were 110,385 households, out of which 44.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.1% weremarried couples living together, 14.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 21.1% were non-families. 17.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.28 and the average family size was 3.67.
In the county, the population was spread out, with 33.8% under the age of 18, 10.6% from 18 to 24, 27.6% from 25 to 44, 18.2% from 45 to 64, and 9.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 29 years. For every 100 females there were 100.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.7 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $33,983, and the median income for a family was $36,297. Males had a median income of $30,892 versus $24,589 for females. Theper capita income for the county was $14,006. About 18.8% of families and 23.9% of the population were below thepoverty line, including 32.6% of those under age 18 and 10.5% of those age 65 or over.
Tulare is a strongly Republican county inpresidential andcongressional elections. The last Democratic candidate for president to win a majority in the county wasLyndon Johnson in1964. In the2016 presidential election, Republican candidate and overall winner,Donald Trump, won Tulare by a 9.39% margin of victory, the closest margin of victory for a Republican in the county sinceRichard Nixon's 8.37% margin in1960. The Republican advantage narrowed further in the2020 presidential election when Donald Trump won the county by a 7.82% margin despite losing nationally toJoe Biden, the closest margin of victory for a Republican in the county sinceDwight D. Eisenhower's 5.33% margin in1956.
United States presidential election results for Tulare County, California[52][note 3]
The dairy industry, with sales of milk products, brings in the most revenue for the county, typically more than US$1 billion a year annually. Oranges, grapes, and cattle-related commodities also earn hundreds of millions of dollars annually.
In 2001, Tulare became the most productive county in the U.S. in terms of agricultural revenues, at US$3.5 billion annually. It surpassedFresno County's US$3.2 billion, which had held the top spot for over two decades. Due to the importance of agriculture in the county as well as its location in the state, since 1968 the city ofTulare has been the site of the annualWorld Ag Expo,[56] the world's largest agricultural exposition.
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