Photo: Frank Schulenburg · CC BY-SA 4.0Living in Durham, CA: what to set up and who to call
Durham has no town government of its own, so Butte County runs its elections and most services, and its children attend Durham Unified School District. Durham Branch, at 2545 Durham Dayton Hwy, is the library in town.
I’m new in town
What to set up in Durham, and who provides it. Tap an answer for the details and where they come from.
Power, water and internet
Who to call to start service at a new address in Durham.
Power comes from PG&E
PG&E (Pacific Gas & Electric Co.), an investor-owned utility, serves all of Durham. Its homes paid an average of 37.5¢ per kWh in 2025, about $174 a month (its average across California, for customers on its standard service). California lets you buy power from another supplier; 66% of PG&E’s home customers do, and PG&E still delivers it.
Start or move service: pgecorp.com
Service territory: HIFLD Electric Retail Service Territories (map dated Aug 2023). Prices and customers: EIA-861, 2025.
Water comes from Durham Irrigation District
Durham Irrigation District supplies Durham: about 30% of residents live in its service area. Cal-Water Service Co.-Chico serves another 12%. Butte Creek Estates Mutual Water Co serves another 7%. About 51% of homes are outside any mapped community water system, most likely on private wells, which EPA doesn’t regulate. It draws ground water and serves 1,581 people in all.
No health-based violations reported to EPA in the five years to October 2026, like 78% of the 7,966 systems serving 1,001–3,300 people.
The latest lead result on file, the 90th percentile of homes sampled in Jan 2022–Dec 2024, was 0.7 ppb, below the 15 ppb action level that applied. The highest in five years was 1.6 ppb. That’s lower than 56% of similar systems’ latest results.
The system’s full record: EPA ECHO report
EPA SDWIS via Envirofacts (violations pulled Oct 9, 2026) and ECHO (lead samples, 2026Q3); service area: EPA Community Water System Service Area Boundaries v3.0. Violations are counted by the start of their compliance period. CA0410003.
7 home internet providers serve Durham
96% of 2,382 addresses can get 100/20 Mbps; 0% can get fiber.
| Provider | Technology | Addresses | Fastest (Mbps) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Xfinity | Cable | 67% | 1,200/35 |
| DigitalPath | Fixed wireless | 86% | 400/20 |
| Verizon | Fixed wireless | 60% | 300/20 |
| T-Mobile | Fixed wireless | 33% | 100/20 |
| AT&T | Fixed wireless | 8% | 25/3 |
| Succeed.Net | Fixed wireless | 8% | 100/50 |
FCC National Broadband Map, as of December 2025. Availability as providers report it, not speeds people get.
We don’t have Durham’s trash rules yet
Pickup rules, the dump and recycling in Durham.
Where your child goes to school
Public school districts and the school path by grade.
Most of Durham (86%) is in Durham Unified School District; parts are in Chico Unified School District (13%).
B+School gradeSee Schools →U.S. Department of Education, NCES Common Core of Data, 2024–25. Enrollment rules and registration are the district’s.
No town hall: the county runs things
Durham is unincorporated, so Butte County is the local government.
Election office: FVAP local election office directory, updated Aug 2025; jurisdictions: EAC EAVS 2024. Registration rules and links: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Durham spans 3 ZIP codes
ZIP codes where Durham residents live, with the share of the town in each.
| ZIP | Post office name | Share of Durham | ZIP’s residents in Durham |
|---|---|---|---|
| 95938 | Durham, CA | 63% | 99% |
| 95928 | Chico, CA | 34% | 5% |
| 95965 | Oroville, CA | 2% | 0% |
A few homes fall in 95958.
Census 2020 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, by census block; post office names: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). ZIPs created since 2020 are missing.
Getting around, the ER and the library
One line each; the subject pages have the rest.
ER: CMS hospital data. Library: IMLS Public Libraries Survey, FY2024.
Questions about living in Durham
Who supplies Durham’s drinking water, and has it had violations?
Durham Irrigation District (EPA ID CA0410003). It reported no health-based violations to EPA in the five years to October 2026; 78% of systems its size had none. Its latest lead 90th percentile was 0.7 ppb (Jan 2022–Dec 2024), against a 15 ppb action level.
Who provides electricity in Durham?
PG&E (Pacific Gas & Electric Co.), an investor-owned utility. Its homes paid about 37.5¢ per kWh in 2025 (EIA).
What internet providers serve Durham?
Xfinity, DigitalPath, Verizon, T-Mobile, AT&T, Succeed.Net (FCC, as of December 2025).
What ZIP codes are in Durham?
95938 (63%), 95928 (34%), 95965 (2%), by share of residents. Census 2020 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas.
What school district is Durham in?
Durham Unified School District. Parts of the city are in Chico Unified School District.
How do I register to vote in Durham?
In California you can register online until 15 days before Election Day, in person up to and including Election Day, or by mail (postmarked 15 days before). Elections here are run by the Butte County Elections. Check your registration at voterstatus.sos.ca.gov.
Sources & dates
Every answer above names its source. Here they are with their dates.
- Water: EPA SDWIS (Envirofacts, pulled Oct 9, 2026), ECHO SDWA 2026Q3, EPA CWS Service Area Boundaries v3.0.
- Power: HIFLD Electric Retail Service Territories (map Aug 2023); EIA-861 final 2025.
- Trash: OpenStreetMap, Geofabrik extract of Oct 9, 2026. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
- ZIP codes: Census 2020 ZCTA relationship files; GeoNames postal codes (CC BY 4.0).
- Schools: NCES Common Core of Data, 2024–25.
- Registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024 (read Oct 10, 2026). Official sites and area codes: Wikidata.
- Election office: FVAP local election office directory (fetched Oct 10, 2026; each record dated), EAC EAVS 2024 jurisdictions; registration and lookup links from vote.gov’s state data, checked Oct 10, 2026.
- Internet: FCC National Broadband Map, as of December 2025.