Some of you might be asking yourself, at this very moment, is California a good place?
The answer is unequivocally yes… if you know where to locate the best counties to live in California.
Lucky for you, we’re here to help you identify the best counties to live in the Golden State based on the most recently available data from the Census. And this isn’t our first rodeo — we’ve been using Saturday Night Science to rank places for years.
The question becomes if you wanted to relocate to the best part of California, where would you go? To answer that, we looked at crime, cost of living, and demographic data for all 58 counties in the state.
San Mateo County is the county to be when it comes to living the good life in California. And you should avoid Merced County if you can — at least according to the data.
$158,855 median income · 4.8% unemployment
$115,998 median income · 4.8% unemployment
$149,091 median income · 6.1% unemployment
$164,281 median income · 4.9% unemployment
$108,845 median income · 4.5% unemployment
$105,521 median income · 4.4% unemployment
$129,367 median income · 5.4% unemployment
$140,970 median income · 6.1% unemployment
$127,229 median income · 6.5% unemployment
$111,471 median income · 5.2% unemployment
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is California’s statewide median.
California statewide median: $99,122
California statewide median: $774,582
California statewide median: 6.6%
On the map
Where California’s best counties are
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How do you determine which California county is the best?
To give you the best county in California, we have to look at a handful of metrics that signal the quality of a place. To do that, we made assumptions about what’s in a “best county” and what isn’t. For reference, we are trying to make the kind of argument you’d make at a bar using facts, Saturday Night Science.
With that in mind, we went to two of the best data sources on the internet. Namely, the American Community Survey data and FBI Crime data for the most recent period.
We paid particular attention to:
- Violent Crime Rates
- Property Crime Rates
- Median Home Values
- Median Income
- Unemployment Rates
- Adult Education Levels
- Health Insurance Coverage
- Poverty Rates
We then ranked each county in California across each of the criteria from one to 58, with one being the best.
Taking the average rank across all criteria, we created a quality of life score with the county posting the lowest overall score being the “Best County To Live In California.”
The result is some of the safest, quietest, and best counties to raise a family in the Golden State.
We updated this article for 2026. This report is our eleventh time ranking the best counties to live in California.
Read on to see why San Mateo County is the best county, while Merced County is probably in contention for being the worst county in California.
The full plate
Detailed List Of The Best Counties In California
Click any column to sort. Search by county name.
| Rank | County | Population | Median Income | Median Home Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Mateo County | 742,340 | $158,855 | $1,606,596 |
| 2 | Placer County | 419,156 | $115,998 | $685,954 |
| 3 | Marin County | 257,969 | $149,091 | $1,469,866 |
| 4 | Santa Clara County | 1,902,047 | $164,281 | $1,679,213 |
| 5 | El Dorado County | 192,662 | $108,845 | $653,106 |
| 6 | Alpine County | 1,616 | $105,521 | $514,117 |
| 7 | Alameda County | 1,649,473 | $129,367 | $1,086,737 |
| 8 | San Francisco County | 830,235 | $140,970 | $1,357,007 |
| 9 | Contra Costa County | 1,165,012 | $127,229 | $789,908 |
| 10 | Napa County | 134,869 | $111,471 | $887,245 |
| 11 | Orange County | 3,165,820 | $116,289 | $1,194,407 |
| 12 | San Benito County | 67,290 | $114,394 | $771,496 |
| 13 | Sonoma County | 485,040 | $104,674 | $792,143 |
| 14 | San Luis Obispo County | 281,555 | $97,446 | $906,922 |
| 15 | Nevada County | 102,481 | $89,882 | $611,865 |
| 16 | Santa Cruz County | 264,926 | $111,093 | $1,149,400 |
| 16 | San Diego County | 3,288,774 | $106,268 | $941,931 |
| 18 | Solano County | 451,918 | $100,401 | $577,138 |
| 19 | Amador County | 41,428 | $88,044 | $418,138 |
| 20 | Mono County | 13,148 | $99,415 | $755,677 |
| 21 | Calaveras County | 46,248 | $78,647 | $433,276 |
| 22 | Ventura County | 837,469 | $109,797 | $885,254 |
| 23 | Inyo County | 18,739 | $73,991 | $529,158 |
| 24 | Sacramento County | 1,594,006 | $92,175 | $530,243 |
| 25 | Yolo County | 220,564 | $91,752 | $622,227 |
| 26 | Tuolumne County | 54,498 | $77,404 | $388,488 |
| 27 | Mariposa County | 17,082 | $68,412 | $401,079 |
| 28 | Riverside County | 2,478,600 | $93,074 | $608,606 |
| 29 | Monterey County | 437,613 | $97,230 | $849,201 |
| 30 | Shasta County | 181,436 | $72,636 | $370,888 |
| 31 | San Joaquin County | 797,334 | $92,179 | $532,711 |
| 32 | Santa Barbara County | 443,701 | $98,161 | $994,384 |
| 33 | Plumas County | 19,423 | $66,031 | $362,743 |
| 34 | Los Angeles County | 9,808,667 | $90,112 | $888,345 |
| 35 | Stanislaus County | 553,990 | $81,468 | $467,166 |
| 36 | Del Norte County | 27,107 | $67,058 | $366,286 |
| 37 | San Bernardino County | 2,197,104 | $85,478 | $551,491 |
| 38 | Humboldt County | 134,541 | $61,160 | $425,013 |
| 39 | Sutter County | 98,857 | $79,704 | $438,591 |
| 40 | Yuba County | 84,507 | $76,373 | $418,797 |
| 41 | Sierra County | 2,746 | $63,355 | $328,754 |
| 42 | Butte County | 207,929 | $67,928 | $402,207 |
| 43 | Tehama County | 65,167 | $63,784 | $318,464 |
| 44 | Siskiyou County | 43,466 | $59,095 | $278,755 |
| 45 | Mendocino County | 90,244 | $68,092 | $489,567 |
| 46 | Fresno County | 1,016,725 | $74,201 | $409,962 |
| 47 | Colusa County | 21,984 | $75,672 | $370,445 |
| 48 | Lassen County | 30,356 | $67,403 | $231,145 |
| 49 | Madera County | 160,940 | $76,627 | $425,121 |
| 49 | Lake County | 68,152 | $60,621 | $305,226 |
| 51 | Trinity County | 15,860 | $53,002 | $246,520 |
| 52 | Kings County | 153,298 | $70,995 | $364,476 |
| 53 | Glenn County | 28,494 | $67,139 | $362,263 |
| 54 | Kern County | 915,075 | $70,210 | $363,091 |
| 55 | Modoc County | 8,600 | $59,455 | $191,781 |
| 56 | Tulare County | 478,693 | $71,300 | $360,206 |
| 57 | Imperial County | 180,202 | $57,681 | $378,175 |
| 57 | Merced County | 290,201 | $65,510 | $418,062 |
Source: U.S. Census ACS + FBI crime data via Saturday Night Science. All 58 California counties.
Summary
Summary: The Best Counties In California To Call Home For 2026
Living in California can vary from one part of the state to the next — who woulda thought?
The best counties in California are San Mateo County, Placer County, Marin County, Santa Clara County, El Dorado County, Alpine County, Alameda County, San Francisco County, Contra Costa County, and Napa County.
But now you know the outstanding parts and the parts to avoid, and that’s why you came here to learn at the end of the day.
You are welcome.
