Plumas Lake is a master-planned exurb and census-designated place in Yuba County, California. Plumas Lake is located north of the city ofSacramento on the Feather River, just prior to its confluence with the Bear River and the Sacramento River. At full build-out the city will have roughly 12,000 homes and 36,000 residents. The community is located about south of the city of Marysville in southern Yuba County. It lies at an elevation of 46 feet. The population was 5,853 at the 2010 census. Plumas Lake, California shares the same zip code as Olivehurst, California. However, Plumas Lake stands as a separate community that is located south of the crossing of McGowan and Arboga and includes the North Arboga Study Area. Many individuals and agencies were opposed to the construction of this project due to the history of severe flooding. Notable floods in the area occurred in 1986 and 1997. The flood risk in the area was exacerbated by hydraulic mining which occurred in the Yuba River watershed upstream of the region. Mine tailings wound up in the river beds and were then transported into the Sacramento Valley, where they accumulated in the river channels and reduced their conveyance capacities. This mining activity was part of the Gold Rush of California. A park and ride facility was opened on October 1, 2009 by Caltrans in the Plumas Lake area, along California State Route 70 and Feather River Blvd.
The 2010 United States Census reported that Plumas Lake had a population of 5,853. The population density was 698.3 people per square mile. The racial makeup of Plumas Lake was 3,923 White, 372 African American, 73 Native American, 474 Asian, 44 Pacific Islander, 451 from other races, and 516 from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1,312 persons. The Census reported that 5,853 people lived in households, 0 lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0 were institutionalized. There were 1,745 households, out of which 1,043 had children under the age of 18 living in them, 1,195 were opposite-sex married couples living together, 155 had a female householder with no husband present, 117 had a male householder with no wife present. There were 127 unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 20 same-sex married couples or partnerships. 183 households were made up of individuals and 21 had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.35. There were 1,467 families ; the average family size was 3.61. The population was spread out with 2,144 people under the age of 18, 380 people aged 18 to 24, 2,204 people aged 25 to 44, 926 people aged 45 to 64, and 199 people who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 29.1 years. For every 100 females, there were 104.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.0 males. There were 1,924 housing units at an average density of 229.5 per square mile, of which 1,480 were owner-occupied, and 265 were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 6.2%; the rental vacancy rate was 6.0%. 4,835 people lived in owner-occupied housing units and 1,018 people lived in rental housing units.
