California: cities and towns by population
By
James Burfield , SEO consultant, Bath · Page updated
18 September 2026 · GeoNames
The largest of California's 1,132 recorded places, ranked by population — 36,492,551 people across the state's towns and cities.
The essentials
Los Angeles is the largest place we record in California, with 3,820,914 residents. The three largest together hold 17% of the 36,492,551 people counted across the state's recorded towns and cities. That total sums listed places rather than measuring the state itself, so treat it as coverage, never as an official population.
All 1,132 places, ranked
Figures are the latest available in
GeoNames (CC BY 4.0), which draws on national censuses of varying dates — treat them as recent, not same-year. Country totals are
UN World Population Prospects 2024 (medium variant) where the UN lists the country separately; the handful it reports under a parent state keep a GeoNames figure and are marked as such.
Sources & method .
# Place Population 1 Los Angeles 3,820,914 2 San Diego 1,404,452 3 San Jose 997,368 4 San Francisco 827,526 5 Fresno 542,107 6 Sacramento 524,943 7 Long Beach 474,140 8 Oakland 419,267 9 Bakersfield 373,640 10 Anaheim 350,742 11 Riverside 317,261 12 Santa Ana 310,227 13 Stockton 305,658 14 Chula Vista 265,757 15 Irvine 256,927 16 Fremont 232,206 17 San Bernardino 216,108 18 Fontana 212,704 19 Modesto 211,266 20 Oxnard 207,254 21 Moreno Valley 204,198 22 Huntington Beach 201,899 23 Glendale 201,020 24 Santa Clarita 182,371 25 Santa Rosa 178,127 26 Oceanside 175,691 27 Garden Grove 175,393 28 Rancho Cucamonga 175,236 29 Ontario 171,214 30 Elk Grove 166,913 31 Corona 164,226 32 Lancaster 161,103 33 Palmdale 158,351 34 Hayward 158,289 35 Salinas 157,380 36 Sunnyvale 155,805 37 Pomona 153,266 38 Escondido 151,038 39 Valencia 148,456 40 Torrance 143,592 41 Pasadena 142,250 42 Orange 140,992 43 Fullerton 140,847 44 Roseville 130,269 45 Visalia 130,104 46 Thousand Oaks 129,339 47 Concord 128,667 48 Simi Valley 126,788 49 East Los Angeles 126,496 50 Santa Clara 126,215 51 Victorville 122,225 52 Vallejo 121,692 53 Chico 121,345 54 Berkeley 120,972 55 El Monte 116,732 56 Carlsbad 114,746 57 Downey 114,219 58 Costa Mesa 113,204 59 Fairfield 112,970 60 Inglewood 111,666 61 Antioch 110,542 62 Temecula 110,003 63 Murrieta 109,830 64 Richmond 109,708 65 West Covina 108,484 66 Norwalk 107,140 67 Daly City 106,562 68 Burbank 105,319 69 Santa Maria 105,093 70 Clovis 104,180 71 El Cajon 103,679 72 San Mateo 103,536 73 Rialto 103,132 74 Vista 100,890 75 Compton 98,462 76 Mission Viejo 97,156 77 Vacaville 96,803 78 Ventura 96,769 79 South Gate 96,401 80 Hesperia 93,295 81 Carson 93,281 82 Santa Monica 93,220 83 San Marcos 92,931 84 Arden-Arcade 92,186 85 Westminster 92,114 86 Santa Barbara 91,842 87 Redding 91,582 88 San Leandro 90,712 89 Hawthorne 88,451 90 Livermore 88,126 91 Indio 87,533 92 Whittier 87,438 93 Menifee 87,174 94 Newport Beach 87,127 95 Tracy 87,075 96 Citrus Heights 87,056 97 Chino 85,595 98 Alhambra 85,551 99 Redwood City 85,288 100 Hemet 83,861 101 Buena Park 83,270 102 Lake Forest 82,492 103 Merced 82,436 104 Lakewood 81,611 105 Tustin 80,583 106 Mountain View 80,435 107 Napa 80,434 108 Pleasanton 79,510 109 Alameda 78,630 110 Bellflower 78,441 111 Chino Hills 78,309 112 Milpitas 77,604 113 Baldwin Park 77,071 114 Upland 76,443 115 Folsom 76,375 116 San Ramon 76,134 117 Manteca 75,448 118 Perris 74,971 119 Union City 74,494 120 Turlock 72,292 121 Apple Valley 72,174 122 Lynwood 71,989 123 Redlands 71,035 124 Rancho Cordova 71,017 125 Pittsburg 69,424 126 Walnut Creek 68,910 127 Redondo Beach 68,166 128 Yorba Linda 67,973 129 Davis 67,666 130 Camarillo 67,608 131 South San Francisco 67,271 132 Yuba City 66,941 133 Palo Alto 66,853 134 Laguna Niguel 65,806 135 San Clemente 65,526 136 Lodi 64,596 137 Santa Cruz 64,220 138 Pico Rivera 64,218 139 Madera 64,208 140 Montebello 63,921 141 Florence-Graham 63,387 142 Encinitas 62,930 143 Tulare 62,315 144 La Habra 62,131 145 Lake Elsinore 61,981 146 Carmichael 61,762 147 Monterey Park 61,468 148 Castro Valley 61,388 149 Rocklin 61,213 150 National City 61,060 151 Cupertino 60,572 152 Gardena 60,447 153 Petaluma 60,438 154 La Mesa 60,089 155 Huntington Park 59,430 156 San Rafael 59,162 157 Eastvale 59,039 158 Brentwood 58,968 159 Woodland 58,567 160 Arcadia 58,408 161 Santee 57,787 162 Dublin 57,721 163 South Whittier 57,156 164 Fountain Valley 56,987 165 Diamond Bar 56,897 166 Porterville 56,058 167 Hanford 55,659 168 Novato 55,530 169 Paramount 55,412 170 Rosemead 54,908 171 Highland 54,854 172 Colton 54,621 173 Hacienda Heights 54,038 174 Cathedral City 53,826 175 Watsonville 53,628 176 Yucaipa 53,328 177 Gilroy 53,231 178 Delano 52,733 179 West Sacramento 52,721 180 Placentia 52,495 181 Glendora 52,009 182 Palm Desert 51,869 183 Aliso Viejo 50,195 184 Poway 50,157 185 Cerritos 49,975 186 Lincoln 49,757 187 Azusa 49,690 188 La Mirada 49,520 189 Rancho Santa Margarita 49,324 190 Cypress 49,290 191 Rowland Heights 48,993 192 Covina 48,984 193 Ceres 47,963 194 Florin 47,513 195 Palm Springs 47,371 196 San Luis Obispo 47,339 197 San Jacinto 46,951 198 Antelope 45,770 199 Newark 45,336 200 Coachella 44,635
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