The 10 Best Counties To Live In California For 2024


The best counties in California are San Mateo County and Santa Clara County for 2024 based on Saturday Night Science.

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.


Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Table | FAQs | Summary


San Mateo County is the county to be when it comes to living the good life in California. And you should avoid Imperial County if you can — at least according to the data.

Now you know exactly where to move in California. Keep on reading for more about the top ten and a detailed methodology.

Or, check out the best places to live in California and the cheapest places to live in California.


Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table


The Best Counties To Live In California For 2024

1. San Mateo County

Atherton, CA

Source: Public domain

Biggest Place: San Mateo
Population: 754,250
Median Income: $149,907 (2nd best)
Median Home Price: $1,509,337 (best)
Unemployment Rate: 4.5% (5th best)
More on San Mateo CountyData

2. Santa Clara County

Burbank, CA

Source: Public domain

Biggest Place: San Jose
Population: 1,916,831
Median Income: $153,792 (best)
Median Home Price: $1,498,530 (2nd best)
Unemployment Rate: 4.4% (4th best)
More on Santa Clara CountyData

3. Placer County

Auburn, CA

Source: Wikipedia User Bobak Ha’Eri | CC BY 3.0

Biggest Place: Roseville
Population: 406,608
Median Income: $109,375 (7th best)
Median Home Price: $669,137 (19th best)
Unemployment Rate: 4.3% (2nd best)
More on Placer CountyData

4. Marin County

Belvedere, CA

Source: Wikipedia User Brocken Inaglory | CC BY-SA 3.0

Biggest Place: San Rafael
Population: 260,485
Median Income: $142,019 (3rd best)
Median Home Price: $1,464,636 (3rd best)
Unemployment Rate: 5.8% (19th best)
More on Marin CountyData

5. Alameda County

Alameda, CA

Source: Wikipedia User Sanfranman59 | GFDL

Biggest Place: Oakland
Population: 1,663,823
Median Income: $122,488 (5th best)
Median Home Price: $1,077,995 (6th best)
Unemployment Rate: 4.9% (9th best)
More on Alameda CountyData

6. El Dorado County

Placerville, CA

Source: Wikipedia User Bobak Ha’Eri | CC BY 3.0

Biggest Place: El Dorado Hills
Population: 191,713
Median Income: $99,246 (15th best)
Median Home Price: $650,081 (20th best)
Unemployment Rate: 4.6% (6th best)
More on El Dorado CountyData

7. San Francisco County

San Francisco, CA

Source: Wikipedia User Bernard Gagnon | GFDL

Biggest Place: San Francisco
Population: 851,036
Median Income: $136,689 (4th best)
Median Home Price: $1,252,513 (4th best)
Unemployment Rate: 5.4% (16th best)
More on San Francisco CountyData

8. Contra Costa County

Antioch, CA

Source: Public domain

Biggest Place: Concord
Population: 1,162,648
Median Income: $120,020 (6th best)
Median Home Price: $802,009 (15th best)
Unemployment Rate: 5.8% (20th best)
More on Contra Costa CountyData

9. Nevada County

Grass Valley, CA

Source: Public domain

Biggest Place: Truckee
Population: 102,322
Median Income: $79,395 (27th best)
Median Home Price: $616,586 (2best)
Unemployment Rate: 4.4% (3rd best)
More on Nevada CountyData

10. Sonoma County

Cloverdale, CA

Source: Public domain

Biggest Place: Santa Rosa
Population: 488,436
Median Income: $99,266 (14th best)
Median Home Price: $788,831 (16th best)
Unemployment Rate: 5.2% (12th best)
More on Sonoma CountyData

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 2024. This report is our tenth time ranking the best counties to live in California.

Read on to see why San Mateo County is the best county, while Imperial County is probably in contention for being the worst county in California.

Summary: The Best Counties In California To Call Home For 2024

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, Santa Clara County, Placer County, Marin County, Alameda County, El Dorado County, San Francisco County, Contra Costa County, Nevada County, and Sonoma 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.

Here’s a look at the worst counties in California according to the data:

  1. Imperial County
  2. Tulare County
  3. Merced County

For more California reading, check out:

Detailed List Of The Best Counties In California

Rank County Population Median Income Median Home Price
1 San Mateo County 754,250 $149,907 $1,509,337
2 Santa Clara County 1,916,831 $153,792 $1,498,530
3 Placer County 406,608 $109,375 $669,137
4 Marin County 260,485 $142,019 $1,464,636
5 Alameda County 1,663,823 $122,488 $1,077,995
6 El Dorado County 191,713 $99,246 $650,081
7 San Francisco County 851,036 $136,689 $1,252,513
8 Contra Costa County 1,162,648 $120,020 $802,009
9 Nevada County 102,322 $79,395 $616,586
10 Sonoma County 488,436 $99,266 $788,831
11 Napa County 137,384 $105,809 $902,605
12 Santa Cruz County 268,571 $104,409 $1,147,849
13 San Luis Obispo County 281,712 $90,158 $868,655
14 Solano County 450,995 $97,037 $576,018
15 Orange County 3,175,227 $109,361 $1,049,400
16 San Benito County 64,753 $104,451 $765,779
17 Amador County 40,577 $74,853 $423,060
18 Alpine County 1,515 $101,125 $487,610
19 Ventura County 842,009 $102,141 $833,853
20 Calaveras County 45,674 $77,526 $443,994
21 San Diego County 3,289,701 $96,974 $894,377
22 Inyo County 18,829 $63,417 $494,438
23 Yolo County 217,141 $85,097 $597,622
24 Sacramento County 1,579,211 $84,010 $514,817
25 Mono County 13,219 $82,038 $742,244
26 Plumas County 19,650 $67,885 $379,665
27 Tuolumne County 54,993 $70,432 $394,288
28 Santa Barbara County 445,213 $92,332 $944,672
29 Monterey County 437,609 $91,043 $808,983
30 Riverside County 2,429,487 $84,505 $582,702
31 Shasta County 181,852 $68,347 $366,122
32 San Joaquin County 779,445 $82,837 $522,369
33 Los Angeles County 9,936,690 $83,411 $841,358
34 Stanislaus County 552,063 $74,872 $448,288
35 Sierra County 2,916 $61,108 $330,541
36 Sutter County 99,101 $72,654 $421,969
37 Mariposa County 17,130 $60,021 $391,221
38 Butte County 213,605 $66,085 $390,744
39 San Bernardino County 2,180,563 $77,423 $520,290
40 Del Norte County 27,462 $61,149 $351,400
41 Yuba County 81,705 $66,693 $400,233
42 Humboldt County 136,132 $57,881 $444,650
43 Colusa County 21,811 $69,619 $359,546
44 Siskiyou County 44,049 $53,898 $288,483
45 Mendocino County 91,145 $61,335 $501,102
46 Tehama County 65,484 $59,029 $310,493
47 Trinity County 15,889 $47,317 $293,387
48 Lake County 68,024 $56,259 $318,452
49 Fresno County 1,008,280 $67,756 $381,056
50 Kings County 152,515 $68,540 $334,139
51 Lassen County 31,873 $59,515 $229,939
52 Madera County 157,243 $73,543 $393,083
53 Glenn County 28,657 $64,033 $350,010
54 Modoc County 8,651 $54,962 $184,099
55 Kern County 906,883 $63,883 $336,410
56 Merced County 282,290 $64,772 $396,684
57 Tulare County 473,446 $64,474 $331,343
58 Imperial County 179,578 $53,847 $324,645
About Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar has been in the real estate business for almost ten years now. He originally worked for Movoto Real Estate as the director of marketing before founding HomeSnacks.

He believes the key to finding the right place to live comes down to looking at the data, reading about things to do, and, most importantly, checking it out yourself before you move.

If you've been looking for a place to live in the past several years, you've probably stumbled upon his writing already.

You can find out more about him on LinkedIn or his website.