Kensington, California

Kensington
Blake Garden, Kensington
Location in Contra Costa County and the state of California
Location in Contra Costa County and the state of California
Coordinates: 37°54′38″N 122°16′49″W / 37.91056°N 122.28028°W / 37.91056; -122.28028[1]
Country United States
StateCalifornia
CountyContra Costa
Government
 • County BoardDistrict 1:
John Gioia
 • State SenateNancy Skinner (D)[2]
 • State AssemblyBuffy Wicks (D)[3]
 • U. S. CongressJohn Garamendi (D)[4]
Area
 • Total
0.956 sq mi (2.48 km2)
 • Land0.947 sq mi (2.45 km2)
 • Water0.009 sq mi (0.02 km2)  0.97%
Elevation587 ft (179 m)
Population
 (2010)
 • Total
5,077
 • Density5,300/sq mi (2,100/km2)
Time zoneUTC-8 (PST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC-7 (PDT)
ZIP codes
94707, 94708
Area code510, 341
GNIS ID[1][6][7]1658891, 2408472
FIPS code[1][7]06-38086

Kensington is an unincorporated community and census designated place located in the Berkeley Hills, in the East Bay, part of the San Francisco Bay Area, in Contra Costa County, California. In the 20th century it was considered part of Berkeley, although it is across the county line. House numbers follow the pattern used in Berkeley, and Kensington shares two zip codes with the Berkeley Hills area.

The population was 5,077 at the 2010 census.[8][9] Kensington’s community is mostly highly educated and affluent, and it contains only single family residential houses. It is among the safest and cleanest places in the United States, with one of the nation’s top public elementary schools. Many distinguished University of California, Berkeley professors, Nobel Prize laureates, and other notable San Francisco Bay Area professionals reside or have resided in Kensington, such as University of California, Berkeley’s theoretical physicist and professor of physics Robert Oppenheimer who was the Director of the Manhattan Project’s Project Y that developed the atomic bombs during World War II.

  1. ^ a b c d "Kensington (Contra Costa County, California)". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. Retrieved May 11, 2014.
  2. ^ "Senators". State of California. Retrieved March 30, 2013.
  3. ^ "Members Assembly". State of California. Retrieved July 5, 2023.
  4. ^ "California's 8th Congressional District - Representatives & District Map". Civic Impulse, LLC. Retrieved March 9, 2013.
  5. ^ "2010 Census U.S. Gazetteer Files – Places – California". United States Census Bureau.
  6. ^ "Kensington Census Designated Place". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. Retrieved May 11, 2014.
  7. ^ a b "FIPS55 Data: California". FIPS55 Data. United States Geological Survey. February 23, 2006. Archived from the original on June 18, 2006. Retrieved May 11, 2014. {{cite web}}: External link in |work= (help)
  8. ^ Kensington Improvement Club, ed. (2000). Kensington Past and Present. Woodford Press. ISBN 978-0-942627-76-3.
  9. ^ Durham, David L. (1998). California's Geographic Names: A Gazetteer of Historic and Modern Names of the State. Clovis, Calif.: Word Dancer Press. p. 648. ISBN 1-884995-14-4.