Population

How many people live in ?

Updated annually
In 2025, there were 39.4 million people living in California. That makes California the first-most populous state, home to 11.5% of people living in the US.

39.4M

population of California (2025)

11.5%

California share of the US population (2025)
The population of California was about 26.4 times higher than it was in 1900. Between 2024 and 2025, the population of California shrunk by about 9,500 people.

About 39.4 million people lived in California in 2025. That's about 26.4 times more than in 1900.

Annual population estimates

What are California's age demographics?

About 6.52 million California residents were aged 65 and older in 2024. That represents 16.6% of the state’s population compared with 18% in the US overall.
Another 8.42 million California residents, or 21.4% of the state’s population, were aged under 18. For comparison, children account for 21.6% of the US population.

A lower share of California's population is is 65 and older than the US overall.

Population share by age group (2024)

What are California's racial and ethnic demographics?

A state’s population may have racial and ethnic differences compared with the US overall. These figures reflect how people identified their race alone (not in combination with other races), and separate Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, following Census Bureau reporting standards.
Non-Hispanic Asian residents make up 16.3% of California’s population, higher than the national share of 6.5%. California also has a larger share of people identifying as Hispanic (40.8%) than the US overall (20%).
In contrast, California’s non-Hispanic Black or African American population accounted for 5.5%, below the 12.6% share nationwide. The non-Hispanic white population makes up 33.6% of the state, compared with 57.5% nationally.

A lower share of California's population is is non-Hispanic white than the US overall.

Population share by race and ethnicity (2024)

What are California's most populous counties?

In 2024, five out of 58 counties accounted for over half of California’s population:
  • Los Angeles County, 9.76 million (24.8% of the population)
  • San Diego County, 3.3 million (8.4%)
  • Orange County, 3.17 million (8.1%)
  • Riverside County, 2.53 million (6.4%)
  • San Bernardino County, 2.21 million (5.6%)

In 2024, Los Angeles County was the most populous county in California.

Population estimates

What are California's most populous cities?

The largest city in California is Los Angeles with about 3.88 million residents in 2024.

Cities and counties in California ranked by population

Cities and counties in California ranked by population
1.

Los Angeles

3,878,704
2.

San Diego

1,404,452
3.

San Jose

997,368
4.

San Francisco

827,526
5.

Fresno 

550,105
6.

Sacramento 

535,798
7.

Long Beach

450,901
8.

Oakland 

443,554
9.

Bakersfield 

417,468
10.

Anaheim 

344,561

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Methodology

USAFacts standardizes data, in areas such as time and demographics, to make it easier to understand and compare.

The analysis was generated with the help of AI and reviewed by USAFacts for accuracy.

Page sources

USAFacts endeavors to share the most up-to-date information available. We sourced the data on this page directly from government agencies; however, the intervals at which agencies publish updated data vary.