Right next to Fresno, and quite different from it, Clovis is a Central Valley city of about 129,000. It started in 1891 as a rail and lumber terminus, and Old Town Clovis still has a Western flavor, with antique shops, restaurants and boutiques, the rodeo grounds, and the Big Hat Days street fairs in spring and fall.
People move here for the schools and the safety. Violent crime is low compared with Fresno, and the neighborhoods, from Sierra Vista to the newer Loma Vista and Clovis North, are mostly suburban and family-focused. Prices are among the higher ones in the Fresno area, though still well below coastal California. Outdoors people like the trails and the position as a gateway to Sierra National Forest, Shaver Lake and Yosemite, about 65 miles away. The tradeoffs are summers that regularly hit 100 to 110, poor air quality from ozone and wildfire smoke, and Valley fever in dusty conditions.
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- Known as
- Gateway to the Sierra; Old Town Clovis and Cowboy Capital heritage (Big Hat Days); Home of the Clovis Rodeo (Rodeo Capital of the West style events)
- Founded
- 1891 founded as a Central California Traction Company rail and lumber terminus (named for Clovis Cole); 1912 incorporated
- Languages
- English; Spanish; Hmong; Punjabi; Chinese; Armenian
- Airports
- Fresno Yosemite International (FAT), about 10 miles southwest; Merced Regional (MCE), about 60 miles northwest, limited service; Visalia (VIS) and Fresno Chandler are general aviation only; Sacramento International (SMF), about 170 miles; Los Angeles (LAX), about 220 miles
- Tipping
- Restaurants 18-20%; bars $1-2 per drink; taxis and rideshare 15-20%; hotel housekeeping $3-5 per night; bellhops $2-5 per bag; counter service optional; delivery 15-20%
About this data
Population 129,347 (Census QuickFacts V2025, July 1, 2025); land area 25.42 sq mi; median value and rent from Census ACS 2020-2024. Metro figure 1,035,456 is the Fresno MSA per instructions, shared with Fresno. Clovis has a city tourism page (clovisca.gov) but the destination bureau covering it is Visit Fresno County, so that site and its events page are used; other visitclovis.com results appeared in search but were not confirmed to be the California city. Redfin and search snippets were not retrievable, so market prices, hotel ranges, cost-of-living index, tipping, crime figures, elevation, coordinates, founding, event months and airport distances are approximate or from general knowledge and not verified in this pass (lower confidence). Official URLs were found via search but not load-tested.
