California Population and Demographics

In this article, we'll explore the population statistics for California, including popular demographics data like median age, number of households, household income, gender, employment and unemployment rates, occupations, religion, and more.

We are using the latest American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year survey data from the US Census Bureau, which is accurate up to 2021.

Table of Contents

Population

There is a lot of data that lets us see how many people live in California. The most basic data is the total population, which is the total number of people living in California. The estimated population of California is 39,455,353 people, with a median age of 37.

We can look at the total population in California over the last 5 years to see how much it has changed.

Year Population Change 5-Year Change
2021
39,455,353
+0.28%
+1.21%
2020
39,346,023
+0.16%
-
2019
39,283,497
+0.34%
-
2018
39,148,760
+0.43%
-
2017
38,982,847
 - -

Population of California by Race and Ethnicity

We can also look at how the population has changed over the last 5 years by each of the race/ethnicity types as defined by the US Census Bureau.

Race 2021 2017 Change
White
35.8%
37.9%
 -5.54%
Black/African American
5.4%
5.5%
 -1.82%
Native
0.3%
0.4%
 -25.00%
Hispanic
39.5%
38.8%
 +1.80%
Asian
14.7%
13.9%
 +5.76%
Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
0.3%
0.4%
 -25.00%
Two Or More Races
3.6%
2.9%
 +24.14%
Other
0.4%
0.2%
 +100.00%

This data can be very important for a number of reasons, including social and economic research, planning and development, and marketing to a multi-cultural population.

Note that the Native group includes both Native American and Alaskan Native people.

Population of California by Age and Gender

The age and gender of a population is another interesting demographic statistic because it lets us track trends in the population over time. For example, we can see how the population has changed over the last 5 years by median age as a total, and also by male and female.

Year Total Male Female
2021 37 +0.82% 36 +1.12% 38 +0.26%
2020 36.7 +0.55% 35.6 +0.56% 37.9 +0.53%
2019 36.5 +0.55% 35.4 +0.57% 37.7 +0.53%
2018 36.3 +0.55% 35.2 +0.57% 37.5 +0.54%
2017 36.1 - 35 - 37.3 -

The median age of California gives you an idea of the age distribution, with half of the population being older than the median age and half being younger.

This can then be used to infer and compare against birth rates, parent ages, and more metrics to understand the population. For example, an increasing median age indicates an aging population, which can be a sign of a declining population in terms of birth rates and workforce participation.

Age 2021 2017
(Years) Male Female Male Female
0 to 9 2,565,687 -4.59% 2,454,089 -4.96% 2,449,793 2,334,655
10 to 19 2,631,831 +2.01% 2,520,698 +1.66% 2,684,683 2,562,303
20 to 29 3,024,484 -4.56% 2,825,020 -3.35% 2,887,952 2,731,107
30 to 39 2,763,396 +6.34% 2,679,335 +3.69% 2,942,472 2,779,619
40 to 49 2,581,243 -0.44% 2,579,587 -1.9% 2,569,443 2,531,071
50 to 59 2,492,812 +0.46% 2,572,366 -2.46% 2,503,801 2,509,632
60 to 69 1,836,655 +9.85% 2,029,586 +6.52% 2,024,261 2,164,981
70+ 1,470,471 +11.81% 1,955,587 +8.59% 1,651,639 2,127,941

Median Household Income

The latest median household income of California is $84,097.00.

In simple terms, the median income is the middle income of a group of people. Half of the people in the group make more than the median income, and half make less. The median income is a good indicator of the overall income of a group of people, and can be used to compare against other metrics such as the average income, per capita income, and more.

Median Income by Age

We can also look at the median income by age to see how the median income varies by age, and how it compares to the overall median income for California.

  • Under 25
    $44,205.00
  • 25 to 44
    $90,138.00
  • 45 to 64
    $98,785.00
  • 65 and over
    $60,832.00

Average Household Income

Whenever we ask what is the average household income in California, we are actually talking about the mean household income.

This is calculated by adding up all the incomes of all the households in California, and then dividing that number by the total number of households. This is a good way to get a general idea of the average income of a group of people, but it can be skewed by a very high or very low incomes.

The average household income of California is currently $119,149.00.

In terms of accurately summarizing income at a geographic level, the median income is a better metric than the average income because it isn't affected by a small number of very high or very low incomes.

If you had an area where the average income was greater than the median, it can mean that there is significant income inequality, with income being concentrated in a small number of wealthy households.

15.11% of households in California are classed as high income households (making $200,000+ per year).

Household Income Tiers

The US Census Bureau divides households into income tiers based on the median income for the area. This is a good way to compare the income of California against other areas.

  • Less than $24,999
    14.41%
  • $25,000 to $49,999
    16.05%
  • $50,000 to $74,999
    14.73%
  • $75,000 to $99,999
    12.27%
  • $100,000 to $149,999
    17.48%
  • $150,000 to $199,999
    9.94%
  • $200,000 or more
    15.11%

Per Capita Income

The per capita income in California is $41,276.00.

Per capita income is the average income of a person in a given area. It is calculated by dividing the total income of California by the total population of California.

This is different from the average or mean income because it includes and accounts for all people in California, including people like children, the elderly, unemployed people, retired people, and more.

Education Levels

We can also look at the education levels in California to see how many people have a high school degree, a bachelor's degree, or a graduate degree.

Educational attainment is a good indicator of the overall education level of a population, and can be used to compare against other metrics such as the average income, per capita income, and more to see how education levels affect income, unemployment rates, and more.

  • Master's degree or higher
    15.85%
  • Bachelor's degree
    37.89%
  • Some college or associate's degree
    10.21%
  • High school diploma or equivalent
    31.30%
  • Less than high school diploma
    4.74%

Employment

Employment rates are all based around the total population in California that are over the age of 16.

The total population of California over the age of 16 is 31,499,704.

Of those people, a total of 63.90% are working or actively looking for work. This is called the labor force participation rate.

The participation rate is a useful market measure because it shows the relative amount of labor resources available to the economy.

The employment to total population rate in California is 59.30%.

Employment by Age

We can look at the employment rates by age to see how it compares to the overall employment rate.

Age Population Participation Unemployment Rate
16 to 19 years 2,075,785 30.00% 19.50%
20 to 24 years 2,626,849 71.80% 11.10%
25 to 29 years 2,992,210 82.10% 7.40%
30 to 34 years 2,949,412 82.80% 5.90%
35 to 44 years 5,341,049 82.10% 5.30%
45 to 54 years 5,043,403 80.70% 5.10%
55 to 59 years 2,502,174 73.10% 5.10%
60 to 64 years 2,298,943 58.70% 5.20%
65 to 74 years 3,363,447 27.80% 5.40%
75 years and over 2,306,432 6.80% 5.70%

Employment by Race

Another very interesting employment statistic we can look at is the employment and unemployment rates by race in California. The table below shows the rates for each of the ethnicity groups types defined by the US Census Bureau.

Age Population Participation Unemployment Rate
White 16,866,694 62.80% 6.00%
Black or African American 1,819,749 60.70% 10.50%
American Indian and Alaska Native 288,126 62.20% 9.10%
Asian 4,911,186 64.30% 5.10%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 120,445 66.10% 7.70%
Other 4,594,343 66.90% 7.00%
Two or more races 2,899,161 67.20% 8.50%
Hispanic or Latino 11,482,033 66.90% 7.10%
Not Hispanic or Latino 12,177,057 61.20% 5.80%

Occupations

In this section we can look at the most common occupations in California as well as the gender breakdown and earnings of them.

The total population of civilian employees that are 16 years old or older in California is 18,676,721, with median earnings of $44,085.00.

Women in California earning approximately 74.90% of the men's earnings.

Population Earnings
Total 18,676,721 $44,085.00
Male 10,104,245 $50,899.00
Female 8,572,476 $38,114.00

Occupations by Category

In the table below, we can break down the population and earnings even further by occupation. The list of occupation categories below will show you how many people are employed in each category and the median earnings of each profession.

Occupation Employed Earnings
Management 2,059,151 $88,936.00
Business and Financial 1,071,350 $75,499.00
Computer and Mathematical 739,959 $108,079.00
Architecture and Engineering 457,879 $103,778.00
Life, Physical, and Social Science 231,155 $79,686.00
Community and Social Service 319,716 $51,688.00
Legal 231,963 $105,918.00
Educational and Library 1,037,181 $45,948.00
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media 547,054 $53,622.00
Healthcare Practitioners 980,154 $79,305.00
Healthcare Support 678,671 $26,005.00
Firefighters and Protective Service 235,542 $35,583.00
Law Enforcement 152,655 $94,827.00
Food Preparation and Serving 1,011,808 $20,385.00
Building and Grounds Cleaning 715,376 $25,910.00
Personal Care and Service 517,132 $20,119.00
Sales 1,807,287 $34,208.00
Office and Administrative Support 2,004,825 $38,230.00
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry 266,145 $22,663.00
Construction and Extraction 901,117 $42,180.00
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair 487,270 $49,653.00
Production 863,584 $35,703.00
Transportation and Material Moving 658,432 $40,268.00

Occupations by Gender

The table below shows the same occupations from the list above, but we have split them by male and female to see how many male and females work in each occupation, the median earnings, and the male to female ratio of earnings.

That last metric is important because it can be used to look at the gender pay gap between men and women.

Occupation Male Female
Population Earnings Population Earnings
Management 1,208,899 $101,405.00 850,252 $76,347.00
Business and Financial 487,591 $84,911.00 583,759 $68,160.00
Computer and Mathematical 557,074 $113,173.00 182,885 $93,984.00
Architecture and Engineering 373,502 $106,023.00 84,377 $90,006.00
Life, Physical, and Social Science 114,341 $85,960.00 116,814 $74,573.00
Community and Social Service 106,885 $52,650.00 212,831 $51,129.00
Legal 109,996 $145,644.00 121,967 $84,435.00
Educational and Library 313,154 $58,153.00 724,027 $41,156.00
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media 304,855 $59,247.00 242,199 $46,395.00
Healthcare Practitioners 298,466 $92,103.00 681,688 $75,238.00
Healthcare Support 135,070 $26,799.00 543,601 $25,831.00
Firefighters and Protective Service 184,072 $37,939.00 51,470 $29,109.00
Law Enforcement 123,087 $98,692.00 29,568 $80,704.00
Food Preparation and Serving 509,664 $22,440.00 502,144 $17,607.00
Building and Grounds Cleaning 428,211 $30,421.00 287,165 $19,940.00
Personal Care and Service 130,653 $23,919.00 386,479 $18,710.00
Sales 923,778 $45,599.00 883,509 $25,800.00
Office and Administrative Support 590,383 $39,236.00 1,414,442 $37,848.00
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry 186,063 $26,140.00 80,082 $17,463.00
Construction and Extraction 880,407 $42,271.00 20,710 $38,520.00
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair 469,579 $49,898.00 17,691 $43,252.00
Production 599,579 $40,609.00 264,005 $27,436.00
Transportation and Material Moving 571,667 $42,148.00 86,765 $29,855.00

Households and Family Size

A household defined bu the US Census Bureau is a group of people who occupy a housing unit. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, group of rooms, or single room occupied as separate living quarters.

There are currently 13,217,586 households in California, with an average household size of 2.92 people.

A family is defined as a group of two or more people related by birth, marriage, or adoption who live together in the same household.

There are 9,060,746 families in California with an average family size of 3.5 people.

Households by Marital Status

The four categories of household by marital status are:

  • Married-couple family
  • Male householder with no spouse present
  • Female household with no spouse present
  • Nonfamily household

The table below shows the total number of households and families, with the average sizes of each.

Married Male Female Nonfamily
Total Households 6,539,445 811,526 1,709,775 4,156,840
Average Household Size 3.6 3.66 3.74 1.38
Total Families 6,539,445 811,526 1,709,775 0
Average Household Size 3.55 3.23 3.46 0

Poverty

Of the 9,060,746 families in California, 8.70% are considered to be below the poverty threshold.

The table below shows the latest poverty thresholds in California:

Household Size Poverty Threshold
1 Person $14,580.00
2 People $19,720.00
3 People $24,860.00
4 People $30,000.00
5 People $35,140.00
6 People $40,280.00
7 People $45,420.00
8 People $50,560.00

Housing

There are 14,328,539 housing units in California.

The table below shows the split between occupied and vacant units:

Total Percentage
Occupied 13,217,586 92.25%
Vacant 1,110,953 7.75%

39.77% of the total 14,328,539 housing units in California are rental units. This is approximately 5,697,828 properties.

For owner-occupied housing units, a total of 7,335,247 are occupied by the owner - or 51.19% of the total.

Rental Rates

The median rent for a property in California is $1,698.00.

In the chart below, we can look at the number of rental properties in California that fall into a particular rent range. These can then be used to compare with other areas, or to see how they have changed over time.

  • No rent paid
    184,511
  • Less than $500
    245,233
  • $500 to $999
    679,865
  • $1,000 to $1,499
    1,378,776
  • $1,500 to $1,999
    1,373,203
  • $2,000 to $2,499
    924,718
  • $2,500 to $2,999
    500,742
  • $3,000 or more
    595,291

Property Value

The median value of a property in California is $573,200.00.

Just like with rental rates, we can look at the number of properties in California that fall into a particular value range.

  • Less than $50,000
    193,201
  • $50,000 to $99,999
    140,515
  • $100,000 to $149,999
    141,615
  • $150,000 to $199,999
    205,971
  • $200,000 to $299,999
    646,801
  • $300,000 to $499,999
    1,804,174
  • $500,000 to $999,999
    2,841,977
  • $1,000,000 or more
    1,360,993

Property Age

We can also look at the age of properties in California. The chart below shows the number of properties in California that fall into a particular age range.

  • 1939 or earlier
    1,287,956
  • 1940 to 1949
    814,928
  • 1950 to 1959
    1,878,006
  • 1960 to 1969
    1,867,790
  • 1970 to 1979
    2,489,970
  • 1980 to 1989
    2,149,034
  • 1990 to 1999
    1,547,489
  • 2000 to 2009
    1,566,716
  • 2010 to 2013
    705,742
  • 2014 or later
    20,908

Vehicles per Household

The number of vehicles available per household can be a good indicator of the level of affluence in an area. The chart below shows the number of households in California that have a particular number of vehicles available.

  • No vehicles available
    911,655
  • 1 vehicle available
    3,960,943
  • 2 vehicles available
    4,866,883
  • 3 or more vehicles available
    3,478,105

Commuting to Work

In this section, we can also look at how people in California get to work. The chart below shows the number of people in California that commute to work in a particular way.

29.5 minutes is the average travel time to work for people in California.

These commute times can be compared to other date like income and educational levels to see how they relate to each other and if there are any trends in the data that might suggest a correlation.

  • Less than 5 minutes
    308,862
  • 5 to 9 minutes
    1,196,497
  • 10 to 14 minutes
    1,967,806
  • 15 to 19 minutes
    2,407,670
  • 20 to 24 minutes
    2,297,606
  • 25 to 29 minutes
    1,008,878
  • 30 to 34 minutes
    2,431,790
  • 35 to 39 minutes
    458,122
  • 40 to 44 minutes
    700,969
  • 45 to 59 minutes
    1,432,590
  • 60 to 89 minutes
    1,320,377
  • 90 or more minutes
    675,339

Summary

We've covered a LOT of demographic and population data for California in this article! Hopefully you have found it very useful in your research of the area.

If you use any of the data found on this page, please consider linking back to USPopulation.org as the source and if you have any feedback or data requests, click here to contact us.

Counties in California

We have data for 58 counties in California. Click on a county below to see more information about the demographics of that county, with links to cities and towns within that county.

Zip Codes in California

If you want to find out more about the population and demographics of specific zip codes in California, click on the links below.