Tulare is a city in Tulare County, California, United States. The population was 68,875 per the 2020 census. It is located in the heart of the San Joaquin Valley, 8 mi (13 km) south of Visalia and 60 mi (97 km) north of Bakersfield. The city is named after the Tulare Lake, once the largest freshwater lake west of the Great Lakes.