Map of California's Counties

This interactive map shows the Locations and Names of Counties in California. It also shows major cities for context. For more detail, zoom in. For more information, scroll down.

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―	County Line
◯	City
	Neighboring States
	California's Counties

California's County Facts

California is called the Golden State. This nickname not only recalls its Gold Rush, but the seemingly limitless possibilities of California's residents.

California is divided into 58 counties.

The largest counties by area are San Bernardino, Inyo, Kern, and Riverside. San Bernardino is also the largest county in the contiguous United States.

California has a population of approximately 40 million people. The most populated counties are Los Angeles County, San Diego County, Orange County, Riverside County, and San Bernardino County.

Los Angeles County is also the most populous county in the United States.

One of the qualities of California's economy is its multiple dominant industry sectors.

California's largest industries are finance and insurance; trade, transportation, and utilities; and professional and business services. California State Assembly.

If you are looking to go to California and are unsure where to go, Expedia can help:

California's Counties and Agriculture

In 2022 California had 9 out of 10 top agricultural producing continues of the nation.

Fresno County was first in the nation, with a total production value of $7 billion, followed by Tulare ($6.4B), Monterey ($5.5B), Kern ($5B), Merced ($4B), Imperial and San Joaquin ($3B) counties. Ceres Courier.

Fresno's top products are almonds, pistachios, and poultry. Tulare produces oranges, cotton, grapes, and more. Monterey produces strawberries, lettuce, and broccoli.

California's Counties and Technology

California is famous for Silicon Valley. The term is associated with the local production of semiconductors. Silicon Valley includes Santa Clara, San Mateo, Alameda, and Santa Cruz.

These are also the wealthiest counties in California.

Major companies in the region include Apple, Alphabet's Google, Chevron, Meta, (formerly Facebook), and Visa.

Prominent California Counties

San Bernardino

Covering 20,105 square miles, San Bernardino County is America’s largest county. With over 24 cities, this county also has a diverse community of over 2.2 million residents.

San Bernardino's terrain is known for its diverse elevations, multi-faceted geography, and enviable climate.

San Bernardino is known for its wide-open spaces as well as its outdoor adventures, from skiing and snowboarding to hiking and watersports.

Santa Clara County

Located in the heart of Silicon Valley, the county has a rich history from its agricultural roots to its current position as a global hub of innovation and technology.

In the later half of the 20th century, the area became home to a number of high-tech companies, including Hewlett-Packard, Intel, and Apple.

Today, Santa Clara County is a diverse community of over 1.9 million people. The county has a large Hispanic population, making up over a quarter of local residents.

Asian Americans also make up a significant portion of the population. Source: Santa Clara

Santa Clara County is the wealthiest county in California, with a median household income of $140,00 and a median home value of almost $1.49 million.

San Mateo County

Today, more than 764,000 people call San Mateo County home and it stretches the boundary of Silicon Valley northward.

Innovation thrives here in industries like bioscience, computer software, green technology, hospitality, financial management, health care, education, and transportation.

San Mateo County is the second richest in California, with a median household income of $136,000 and an average home value of over $1.42 million.

Marin County

Marin County is located in the northwestern part of California’s San Francisco Bay Area. It is a colorful region known for its stunning natural beauty and quaint towns.

With a population of around 262,231 as of the 2020 census, Marin County is an ideal destination for those seeking to explore the outdoors.

As of 2019, Marin County had the sixth highest income per capita of all U.S. counties. It has a median income of $131,000, and a median home value of 1,428,000.

Another notable fact about Marin County is that it holds one of the highest percentage of residents in the nation with Bachelor's Degrees.

Population	Area	Name	Seat
1,628,997	739.02	Oakland	Alameda
1,190	738.33	Markleeville	Alpine
41,412	594.58	Jackson	Amador
207,303	1,636.46	Oroville	Butte
46,563	1,020.01	San Andreas	Calaveras
21,914	1,150.73	Colusa City	Colusa
1,156,966	715.94	Martinez	Cont. Costa
27,082	1,006.37	Crescent City	Del Norte
192,646	1,707.88	Placerville	El Dorado
1,015,190	5,957.99	Fresno City	Fresno
28,339	1,313.95	Willows	Glenn
135,010	3,567.98	Eureka	Humboldt
178,713	4,176.60	El Centro	Imperial
18,718	10,180.87	Independence	Inyo
916,108	8,131.91	Bakersfield	Kern
152,981	1,389.42	Hanford	Kings
68,191	1,256.46	Lakeport	Lake
29,904	4,541.18	Susanville	Lassen
9,721,138	4,057.88	Los Angeles City	Los Angeles
160,256	2,137.07	Madera City	Madera
256,018	520.31	San Rafael	Marin
17,020	1,448.82	Mariposa City	Mariposa
89,783	3,506.34	Ukiah	Mendocino
290,014	1,934.97	Merced	Merced
8,511	3,917.77	Alturas	Modoc
12,978	3,048.98	Bridgeport	Mono
432,858	3,280.59	Salinas	Monterey
134,300	748.36	Napa City	Napa
102,293	957.77	Nevada City	Nevada
3,151,184	790.57	Santa Ana	Orange
417,772	1,407.01	Auburn	Placer
19,351	2,553.04	Quincy	Plumas
2,473,902	7,206.47	Riverside	Riverside
1,584,169	964.64	Sacramento	Sacramento
67,579	1,388.71	Hollister	San Benito
2,193,656	20,056.92	San Bernardino	San Bernardino
3,276,208	4,206.63	San Diego	San Diego
808,437	46.87	San Francisco	San Francisco
793,229	1,391.32	Stockton	San Joaquin
282,013	3,298.56	San Luis Obispo	San Luis Obispo
729,181	448.41	Redwood City	San Mateo
443,837	2,735.08	Santa Barbara	Santa Barbara
1,870,945	1,290.10	San Jose	Santa Clara
264,370	445.17	Santa Cruz	Santa Cruz
180,930	3,775.40	Redding	Shasta
3,217	953.21	Downieville	Sierra
43,660	6,277.88	Yreka	Siskiyou
448,747	821.76	Fairfield	Solano
482,650	1,575.85	Santa Rosa	Sonoma
551,275	1,494.83	Modesto	Stanislaus
98,503	602.41	Yuba City	Sutter
65,245	2,949.71	Red Bluff	Tehama
15,781	3,179.25	Weaverville	Trinity
477,544	4,824.21	Visalia	Tulare
54,531	2,220.88	Sonora	Tuolumne
832,605	1,843.13	Ventura City	Ventura
222,115	1,014.69	Woodland	Yolo
84,310	631.84	Marysville	Yuba

California's County Structure and Power

In California, there is a distinction between a county and a city. Counties lack broad powers of self-government that California cities have. In addition, legislative control over counties is more complete than it is over cities.

The California Constitution recognizes two types of counties: general law counties and charter counties.

General law counties adhere to state law as to the number and duties of county elected officials.

Charter counties, have a limited degree of “home rule” authority that may provide for the election, compensation, terms, removal, and salary of the governing board.

General Law Counties are Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, Colusa, Contra Costa, Del Norte, Glenn, Humboldt, Imperial, Inyo, Kern, Kings, Lake, Lassen, Madera, Marin, Mariposa, Mendocino, Merced, Modoc, Mono, Monterey, Napa, Nevada, Plumas, Riverside, San Benito, San Joaquin, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Solano, Sonoma, Stanislaus, Sutter, Trinity, Tulare, Tuolumne, Ventura, Yolo, and Yuba.
Charter Counties: Alameda, Butte, El Dorado, Fresno, Los Angeles, Orange, Placer, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Tehama. More information about this topic in California State Association of Counties.