Title 24 Reports in Madera County

Where zone 13 runs out

Madera County is the northern end of zone 13. Measured by the Census centre point of each ZIP code, no zone 13 ZIP anywhere in California lies further north than Madera's own. The city of Madera and Chowchilla are zone 13, the same assignment as Fresno to the south-east, while the Merced ZIP codes across the county line to the north-west are zone 12. A Madera project belongs with the southern valley, not the northern one.

The valley zone goes uphill

The surprise is how high zone 13 reaches. Coarsegold and Oakhurst, on Highway 41 toward Yosemite, carry the same zone as the valley floor. USGS data puts Oakhurst at about 3,000 feet, against about 300 feet for the city of Madera, and both are assessed as the hottest of the valley assignments. Ahwahnee, north-west of Oakhurst, is zone 13 as well.

Zone 16 starts east of there. Bass Lake is 93604 and North Fork 93643, with a third small ZIP, 93669, close by — the county's only zone 16 ZIP codes, three of thirteen.

A foothill house in a valley zone

Zone 13 is decisively cooling-driven: glazing area and orientation, duct location and cooling efficiency carry the result. So an Oakhurst house is judged mainly on summer heat, while a Bass Lake house a short drive up the road is judged mainly on keeping heat in. The ZIP code, not the drive time, decides which applies.

Two cities, both zone 13

Madera and Chowchilla, the two incorporated cities on the Department of Finance's 2026 estimates, are both zone 13. Madera Ranchos, east of the city, is unincorporated, as is every community in the foothills or the mountains — Oakhurst, Coarsegold and Bass Lake among them — so their permits come from the county.

Every ZIP code by zone

Zones per the Energy Commission; county membership and community names per the 2020 Census.

• Climate zone 13 — 93614 (Yosemite Lakes, Coarsegold); 93636 (Bonadelle Ranchos, Madera Ranchos, Rolling Hills); 93637 (Madera, Parkwood, La Vina); 93638 (Madera, Madera Acres, Parksdale); 93644 (Oakhurst, Ahwahnee); 93645; also 93601, 93653, 93626, 93610, split with a neighbouring county (below)
• Climate zone 16 — 93604 (Bass Lake); 93643 (North Fork); 93669

ZIP codes that cross the county line

• 93601 (Ahwahnee, Nipinnawasee) — about 64% within Madera County, the remainder in Mariposa 36%
• 93653 — about 69% within Madera County, the remainder in Mariposa 31%
• 93626 — about 74% within Madera County, the remainder in Fresno 26%
• 93610 (Chowchilla, Fairmead) — about 85% within Madera County, the remainder in Merced 15%

Two of these reach into Mariposa County in the foothills, one into Fresno County and Chowchilla's into Merced County. All four are zone 13, so the split changes which county issues the permit, never the zone.

Finding the zone for your own project

The zone is set by the project's location and confirmed from the ZIP code against the Energy Commission's published table — not from the county name and not from the nearest large town. Because Madera County contains more than one zone, that check decides which set of numbers a report is written against.

Give us the project address and we determine the zone as part of preparing the report. It is the first thing established, because every insulation, glazing and equipment figure downstream depends on it.

Climate zones in Madera County

Madera County contains California climate zones 13 and 16. The zone drives the insulation, glazing and equipment performance a report has to demonstrate, and it is confirmed from the project ZIP code against the Energy Commission's published table.