Welcome to Rancho Santa Margarita ...

The city of Rancho Santa Margarita is located in Orange County<1>.

While we don't have a date for the founding of Rancho Santa Margarita, you might get a feel for its founding by knowing that they incorporated January 1, 2000.

From the  Census Estimates for 2019, Rancho Santa Margarita has a population of 47,927 people<2> (see below for details).

Rancho Santa Margarita is 930 feet [283 m] above sea level.<3>.

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

Rancho Santa Margarita is located in the (949) area code.

The ZIP code for Rancho Santa Margarita: 92688<4>

Websites for Rancho Santa Margarita ...

Official Website:   www.cityofrsm.org/

Junior League:   www.jlocc.org/

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Rancho Santa Margarita had an population of 47,927 people. This is an increase of 0.15% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 1.51% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, Rancho Santa Margarita had a population of 47,853 people. This makes Rancho Santa Margarita the county's 21st most populous community.

The population of Rancho Santa Margarita represents 0.13% of the population of California (which has 37,253,956 people), making it the state's 175th most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 47,853 people, the population of Rancho Santa Margarita increased 1.35% from the 2000 Census (which had a count of 47,214 people).

More information can be found on the Census Page for Rancho Santa Margarita.

Communities near Rancho Santa Margarita ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Rancho Santa Margarita.

• Santa Ana
  (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Santa Ana
  • Santa Ana is located in Orange County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 331,301 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Santa Ana <5>
• Irvine
  (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irvine
  • Irvine is located in Orange County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 283,700 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Irvine <5>
• Corona
  (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corona
  • Corona is located in Riverside County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 170,996 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Corona <5>
• Orange
  (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orange
  • Orange is located in Orange County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 138,192 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Orange <5>
• Costa Mesa
  (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Costa Mesa
  • Costa Mesa is located in Orange County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 112,366 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Costa Mesa <5>
• Newport Beach
  (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newport Beach
  • Newport Beach is located in Orange County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 86,834 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Newport Beach <5>
• Tustin
  (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tustin
  • Tustin is located in Orange County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 79,815 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Tustin <5>
• Lake Elsinore
  (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Elsinore
  • Lake Elsinore is located in Riverside County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 65,867 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lake Elsinore <5>
• Laguna Niguel
  (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laguna Niguel
  • Laguna Niguel is located in Orange County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 64,569 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Laguna Niguel <5>
• San Clemente
  (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for San Clemente
  • San Clemente is located in Orange County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 64,551 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for San Clemente <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 Rancho Santa Margarita. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Rancho Santa Margarita.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Rancho Santa Margarita. 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 Rancho Santa Margarita.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Rancho Santa Margarita. See our Newspapers Page for Rancho Santa Margarita.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Rancho Santa Margarita ...

Looking for more information about Rancho Santa Margarita? 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 Rancho Santa Margarita, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Rancho Santa Margarita.

Off-the-Road Links ...

The official website for Rancho Santa Margarita: www.cityofrsm.org/

The official website for Orange County: www.oc.ca.gov/

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