County · code 06007
Butte CountyCalifornia
Butte County is a county in California with its seat in Oroville, created in 1850. The county covers 1,636.5 square miles and had a population of 211,632 in 2020.
- Founded1850
- County seatOroville
- Named forSutter Buttes, California
- Land area1,636 sq mi + 41 sq mi water
- Population211,632 2020 Census
- Parcels mapped100,240 checked 14 October 2026
Where it is
Butte on the map of California
California has 58 counties and county equivalents, each with its own records office. Shapes with a page are links.
History
Formed in 1850 from Colusi County and Colusa County
An old deed may name a county that no longer exists, or a boundary that has since moved.
Butte County was created on February 18, 1850, from non-county area, with Colusi (now Colusa) temporarily attached to it for judicial purposes. Colusi was fully organized and detached from Butte on January 10, 1851. Over the following years, Butte gained and lost territory through exchanges with neighboring counties including Sutter, Shasta, Plumas, Tehama, Colusa, and Yuba, with the major losses occurring between 1851 and 1856.
- 1850Butte County created Butte created from non-county area. Colusi (now Colusa) not fully organized, attached to Butte "for judicial purposes."from Colusifrom Colusa· Calif. Stats. 1849, 1st sess., ch. 15, sec. 21/p. 62
- 1852Exchanged territory Butte exchanged with Sutter. · Calif. Stats. 1852, 3d sess., ch. 149/p. 237
- 1854
- 1854Lost territory Butte lost to creation of Plumas. · Calif. Stats. 1854, 5th sess., ch. 1/pp. 129-131
- 1856Lost territory Butte lost to creation of Tehama. · Calif. Stats. 1856, 7th sess., ch. 100/pp. 118-119
Show all 20 changes
- 1850Butte County created Butte created from non-county area. Colusi (now Colusa) not fully organized, attached to Butte "for judicial purposes."from Colusifrom Colusa· Calif. Stats. 1849, 1st sess., ch. 15, sec. 21/p. 62
- 1851
- 1851Gained territory Butte gained from Sutter, lost small area to Shasta. · Calif. Stats. 1851, 2d sess., ch. 14, sec. 21/p. 177
- 1852Exchanged territory Butte exchanged with Sutter. · Calif. Stats. 1852, 3d sess., ch. 149/p. 237
- 1853Boundary clarified Butte boundaries clarified (no change).no change· Calif. Stats. 1853, 4th sess., ch. 37/p. 53
- 1854
- 1854Lost territory Butte lost to creation of Plumas. · Calif. Stats. 1854, 5th sess., ch. 1/pp. 129-131
- 1856Lost territory Butte lost to creation of Tehama. · Calif. Stats. 1856, 7th sess., ch. 100/pp. 118-119
- 1856Lost territory Butte lost to Colusi (now Colusa).to Colusito Colusa· Calif. Stats. 1856, 7th sess., ch. 105/p. 124
- 1856
- 1859Gained territory Butte gained from Tehama. · Calif. Stats. 1859, 10th sess., ch. 322/p. 359
- 1860Lost territory Butte lost small area in village of Strawberry Valley to Yuba. · Calif. Stats. 1860, 11th sess., ch. 145/p. 115
- 1861Lost territory Butte lost small area at Woodville to Yuba. · Calif. Stats. 1861, 12th sess., ch. 166/p. 167
- 1864Lost territory Butte lost to Sutter. · Calif. Stats. 1863-1864, 15th sess., ch. 292/p. 301
- 1873Gained territory Butte gained from Colusa. · Political Code 1872, 1: secs. 3916, 3922/pp. 119, 123-124
- 1874Boundary clarified Butte boundaries clarified (no change).no change· Calif. Stats. 1873, 20th sess., Acts Amendatory of the Codes, p. 167
- 1897Exchanged territory Butte exchanged with Yuba. · Calif. Stats. 1897, 32d sess., ch. 26/p. 22
- 1901Exchanged territory Butte exchanged with Plumas. · Calif. Stats. 1901, 34th sess., ch. 146/pp. 549-551
- 1915Gained territory Butte gained small area in section 3, township 19 north, range 1 east from Glenn. · Calif. Stats. 1915, 41st sess., ch. 532/p. 898
- 1944
Land and parcels
What the maps cover in Butte
Who publishes each layer, how good it is, and when we last checked.
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Parcels Good enough
Lot lines and tax-map numbers for 100,240 parcels from Butte County. Drawn for tax purposes: usually within a few feet of a survey, but not a survey.
edited 26 April 2024 · checked 14 October 2026 -
Address points Missing
No public address points layer found for Butte County yet.
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Buildings Reference
Roof outlines traced from aerial imagery from FEMA Response Geospatial Office with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). Good for seeing what is on a lot; not accurate enough to set a fence from.
checked 18 October 2026
- Official
- from the office that keeps the record
- Good enough
- a reliable statewide or national copy
- Fallback
- a guide only; check the official record
- Missing
- nothing public found yet
People and land
Butte by the Census
Source: US Census Bureau, 2020 Census; US Census Bureau, 2020 Gazetteer Files. Not endorsed or certified by the Census Bureau.
Rules and offices
Butte County's official site
We have found the county's site but not its offices yet; start there.
County government
- County government
The official website of Butte County.
See your own lot on these maps
Open Butte County on Parcel Chart's free map and click your parcel. Save it with a free account; the full record of your place (site map, projects, documents) is Pro, in early access.
Questions
Common questions about Butte County
- When was Butte County founded?
- Butte County was founded in 1850, formed from Colusi County and Colusa County, and named after Sutter Buttes, California.
- What is the county seat of Butte County?
- The county seat of Butte County is Oroville.
- Is there an online parcel map for Butte County?
- Yes. Butte County publishes a parcel map of 100,240 parcels, rated good enough here. You can click any parcel on it in Parcel Chart's free map, no sign-in needed.
- Has Butte County's boundary or name changed?
- Butte County was created in 1850 from Colusi County and Colusa County. Since then the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries records 17 later changes, chiefly involving Sutter County, Colusa County and Tehama County.
- Is my lot in a flood zone?
- We do not have flood maps for Butte County yet. Look up the address on FEMA's Flood Map Service Center, which shows the effective flood map for any lot.
Nearby