Welcome to Petaluma ...

Petaluma is located in Sonoma County<1>.

While we don't have a date for the founding of Petaluma, you might consider that their post office opened  in 1852.

The was incorporated April 12, 1858.

From the  Census Estimates for 2019, Petaluma has a population of 60,881 people<2> (see below for details).

Petaluma is near sea level<3>.

Time Zone: Petaluma lies in the Pacific Time Zone (PST/PDT) and observes daylight saving time

Petaluma lies within the (707) area code.

The ZIP codes for Petaluma: 94952-94955, 94975, 94999<4>

Websites for Petaluma ...

Official Website: www.cityofpetaluma.net/

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Petaluma had an population of 60,881 people. This is an increase of 5.07% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 11.61% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, Petaluma had a population of 57,941 people (or 11.97% of the total population of Sonoma County). This makes Petaluma the county's 2nd most populous community.

The population of Petaluma represents 0.16% of the population of California (which has 37,253,956 people), making it the state's 146th most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 57,941 people, the population of Petaluma increased 6.22% from the 2000 Census (with a count of 54,548 people).

More information can be found on the Census Page for Petaluma.

Communities Also Named Petaluma ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found another community named Petaluma - it's located in Alabama.

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Petaluma.

Communities near Petaluma ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Petaluma.

• Santa Rosa
  (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Santa Rosa
  • Santa Rosa is located in Sonoma County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 174,613 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Santa Rosa <5>
• Napa
  (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Napa
  • Napa is located in Napa County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 77,032 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Napa <5>
• San Rafael
  (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for San Rafael
  • San Rafael is located in Marin County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 58,528 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for San Rafael <5>
• Novato
  (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Novato
  • Novato is located in Marin County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 53,351 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Novato <5>
• Rohnert Park
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rohnert Park
  • Rohnert Park is located in Sonoma County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 42,975 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rohnert Park <5>
• San Anselmo
  (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for San Anselmo
  • San Anselmo is located in Marin County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 12,513 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for San Anselmo <5>
• Sonoma
  (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sonoma
  • Sonoma is located in Sonoma County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,973 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sonoma <5>
• Sebastopol
  (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sebastopol
  • Sebastopol is located in Sonoma County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,593 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sebastopol <5>
• Fairfax
  (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairfax
  • Fairfax is located in Marin County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,561 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fairfax <5>
• Cotati
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cotati
  • Cotati is located in Sonoma County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,453 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cotati <5>

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Petaluma. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Petaluma.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Petaluma. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Petaluma.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Petaluma. Our list includes 31 papers. See our Newspapers Page for Petaluma.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Petaluma ...

Looking for more information about Petaluma? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

In addition to the Tourism page for Petaluma, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Petaluma.

Adding Petaluma to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Petaluma in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Petaluma was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<6>

From that list, the Petaluma post office opened in 1852.

We also found Petaluma in the book titled List of Post Offices in the United States (1870).

For more details, see References and Mentions for Petaluma.

Off-the-Road Links ...

The official website for Petaluma: www.cityofpetaluma.net/

The official website for Sonoma County: www.sonoma-county.org/

The official website for State of California: https://www.ca.gov/