ExecutivePulse
Schedule a Demo
CA

California

Population 39,287,377
6 Sources Updated September 10, 2026
39.3M
Population
334,922,499 U.S.
$99,122
Median Income
$80,734 national
$4,048.1B
GDP (current $), change real
5.3%
Unemployment
4.0% national
Community Data / United States / California

County Map

Click a county to view its economic profile

Demographics & Population

Census Bureau American Community Survey 2020-2024 · 5-Year Estimates

Household Income

Source: U.S. Census Bureau · American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median Household
$99,122
Per Capita
$49,513
Mean Household
$140,436
Poverty Rate
12%

Age & Race / Ethnicity

Source: Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024 · Table B01001, B02001, B03003
65+: 15.7% (6,158,371 residents) 55-64: 12.1% (4,744,242 residents) 35-54: 26.4% (10,369,103 residents) 18-34: 23.9% (9,382,865 residents) Under 18: 22% (8,632,796 residents) 38 Median Age
Cohorts
Under 18 · 22%
18-34 · 23.9%
35-54 · 26.4%
55-64 · 12.1%
65+ · 15.7%
Race & Ethnicity
White39.7%
Two or More Races19.2%
Some Other Race18.5%
Asian15.5%
Black or African American5.4%
American Indian and Alaska Native1.3%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander0.4%
Hispanic or Latino(any race)40.2%
Hispanic or Latino is an ethnic category and overlaps with the race categories above.

Educational Attainment

Source: Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024 · Table B15003 · Population 25+
84.7%
High School+
National: 89.6%
4.9 pts
37.1%
Bachelor's+
National: 35.7%
+1.4 pts
14.4%
Graduate+
National: 14.1%
+0.3 pts

Employment Overview

Source: U.S. Census Bureau · American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
39,287,377
Population
20,068,466
Labor Force
Employed
18,742,898
Unemployment Rate BLS LAUS 2024 annual
5.3%
2025 is not shown for California: a state annual average needs all 12 months and the Bureau of Labor Statistics has published 11. County pages draw on the separate annual series and may show 2025.
Mean Commute 2 min above national avg
28.7 min
Work From Home vs 15.1% national
17.2%
Labor Force and Employed are ACS 5-Year survey estimates; the Unemployment Rate above comes from BLS LAUS, a separate monthly survey with its own methodology. The two won't reconcile by subtracting one from the other.
California's median household income sits 23% above the national median. At 12%, its poverty rate runs 0.5 pts below the ~12.5% national level, relevant for federal funding eligibility narratives. Bachelor's-or-higher attainment of 37.1% exceeds the national average of 35.7%.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates (released December 2025). Figures reflect the most recent Census release, older news reports may cite prior vintages.
Key Takeaways
  • Income premium: Households earn well above the national median, supporting strong consumer markets statewide.

Economy & Industry

Bureau of Labor Statistics QCEW · Bureau of Economic Analysis

$4,048.1B
Gross Domestic Product · 2024
Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis · CAGDP2 Regional GDP
110.720
Cost of Living - Above Avg

Top Private-Sector Industries by Employment

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics · Quarterly Census of Employment & Wages 2025 Annual · Private sector only, with government shown below
IndustryEmployment% of Top SectorsAvg Wage
1Health Care and Social Assistance		 2,960,566 23.3%
$66,430
2Accommodation and Food Services		 1,657,786 13.0%
$36,516
3Retail Trade		 1,567,097 12.3%
$50,515
4Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services		 1,387,587 10.9%
$183,465
5Manufacturing		 1,215,887 9.6%
$132,063
6Administrative and Support and Waste Management		 1,079,270 8.5%
$64,519
7Construction		 892,415 7.0%
$93,334
8Transportation and Warehousing		 747,702 5.9%
$78,732
9Wholesale Trade		 641,050 5.0%
$113,428
10Other Services (except Public Administration)		 571,112 4.5%
$55,959
Government employment · context only
2,672,103

Public-sector jobs are not in the table above and are not part of any share or location quotient on this page. Both are measured on the private economy only, 15,538,140 private jobs in 2025: every location quotient divides by that total, and the % of Top Sectors column divides by the sectors listed above. Private employment is the standard basis for measuring industry concentration because government employment mostly serves the resident population rather than an outside market. Nothing on this card is expected to add up with the government figure.

Track industry shifts with AI

ExecutivePulse monitors WARN notices, BLS changes, and SEC filings for your top employers.

Learn More
Key Takeaways
  • Largest private-sector industry: Health Care and Social Assistance employs 2,960,566 workers (23.3% of the tracked sectors), at an average wage of $66,430. Every industry figure on this page is private sector; government employs a further 2,672,103 and is counted separately.
  • Economic scale: State GDP of $4,048.1B (2024).
  • Wage stratification: Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services averages $183,465 while Accommodation and Food Services averages $36,516, a 5.0x spread in the same economy, with implications for workforce development and talent strategy.
Source: BLS QCEW + BEA Regional GDP (CAGDP2).

Industry Concentration

Location Quotient measures regional specialization vs. national average. LQ > 1.0 = concentrated.

Chart source: BLS QCEW · broad NAICS supersector · private sector · Location Quotient vs. national private-sector employment share. The same supersector axes appear on every profile, so the shape can be compared across geographies.
Concentrated Industries
List source: BLS QCEW · 3-digit NAICS sub-sector · private sector · Location Quotient vs. national private-sector employment share.
Same source and same private-sector basis as the Top Industries table above. These sit at a finer level than the chart's supersector axes, so the two sets of values are not directly comparable. The sub-sector view surfaces specialization the supersector view masks, such as Support Activities for Agriculture and Forestry here.
Support Activities for Agriculture and Forestry
4.93x
218,160
Web Search Portals, Libraries, and Archives
2.90x
59,629
Motion Picture and Sound Recording Industries
2.83x
119,731
Apparel Manufacturing
2.59x
23,770
Crop Production
2.36x
145,498
Internet Publishing and Broadcasting
2.13x
84,613
Computer and Electronic Product Manufacturing
1.93x
225,162
Social Assistance
1.91x
1,109,683
Beverage and Tobacco Product Manufacturing
1.67x
63,775
Private Households
1.57x
37,672

Attraction Opportunities - Below-Average Industries

LQ < 0.5, below-average employment, screened against industrial power cost. Source: BLS QCEW · 3-digit NAICS sub-sector
0.20x
Oil and Gas Extraction
2,744 employed
0.24x
Support Activities for Mining
7,474 employed
0.24x
Pipeline Transportation
1,571 employed
0.28x
Mining (except Oil and Gas)
6,068 employed
Energy-intensive sector in a state where industrial electricity costs 2.51x the national average.
0.41x
Forestry and Logging
2,202 employed
0.42x
Textile Mills
3,990 employed
Energy-intensive sector in a state where industrial electricity costs 2.51x the national average.
Screened on industrial power cost only; 2 further sub-sectors met the LQ test but conflict with it and are not listed. Industrial electricity in California costs 21.62¢/kWh against 8.62¢/kWh nationally (2025). Land area and freight access are not assessed at state level. Source: EIA.
Key Takeaways
  • Top specialization: Support Activities for Agriculture and Forestry concentrates at 4.93x the national norm, strong concentration that anchors the local economy.
  • Cluster depth: 10 sub-sectors register LQ ≥ 1.5, suggesting an interconnected industrial base across the state.
  • Attraction whitespace: 6 sub-sectors register LQ < 0.5 and clear the industrial power-cost screen, candidates for diversification or recruitment.
Source: BLS QCEW sub-sector Location Quotients.
Industry Employment Composition
California's Top Sectors by Workforce Share
Each rectangle's area is proportional to that sector's share of the top private supersectors. Hover for exact employment.
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics QCEW 2025 Annual · Private sector, NAICS supersectors

Housing & Affordability

Census ACS · HUD Fair Market Rents FY2026

Housing Overview

Source: Census Bureau ACS 2024 5-Year Estimates · Tables B25001, B25077, B25064
$734,700
Median Home Value vs 2019
$2,036
Rent/Mo
55.9%
Owner-Occ
7.5%
Vacancy
7.4x
Home Value to Income Ratio - Stretched
vs. ~4.1x national average

HUD Fair Market Rents (Statewide)

Renter-household-weighted average across 58 Fair Market Rent areas · Source: HUD · Fair Market Rents FY2026 · Affordability threshold and renter cost burden from Census ACS B25119, B25070
Studio
$2,042/mo$774 to $3,179
1 Bedroom
$2,237/mo$883 to $3,298
2 Bedroom
$2,745/mo$1,108 to $4,214
3 Bedroom
$3,591/mo$1,434 to $5,377
4 Bedroom
$4,101/mo$1,655 to $5,659
30% of monthly median renter household income (~$1,780/mo, from a renter median of $71,186) · rents above this line are typically considered cost-burdened.
Measured: 52.5% of renter households already pay 30% or more of income on rent, and 27.3% pay 50% or more.
Key Takeaways
  • Stretched market: Home value to income ratio of 7.4x is well above the ~4.1x national average; attainable workforce housing may be a recruitment friction.
  • Rent affordability gap: None of the 5 HUD Fair Market Rent bedroom sizes sit below what a household on the median renter income of $71,186 can pay without cost burden (~$1,780/mo), and 52.5% of renter households are already cost-burdened, 27.3% severely so.
Source: Census ACS housing tables.

Workforce Pipeline

Labor force readiness, commuting, and workforce composition

Labor Market Overview

Source: Census ACS 2020-2024 · Tables B01001, B23025, B08303, B08301
24,496,210
Working Age (18-64) vs 2019
Labor force participation rate: 66% of population aged 18+ 66% Participation (18+)
vs 2019
Mean Commute 2 min above national avg
28.7 min
Work From Home vs 15.1% national
17.2%

Education & Talent Pipeline

Source: Census ACS 2020-2024 · Table B15003 · College Scorecard
Bachelor's+
37.1%
HS Diploma+
84.7%
6 Largest Institutions by Credentials Awarded
Degrees, certificates, and other credentials awarded last academic year (College Scorecard).
University of Southern California 18,134/yr
University of California-Berkeley 15,215/yr
University of California-Los Angeles 14,884/yr
University of California-San Diego 12,110/yr
University of California-Davis 12,064/yr
University of California-Irvine 11,650/yr

Aging Workforce

Source: Census Bureau ACS · Derived from age & employment tables
19.4%
55-64 of working-age population (18-64)
Same cohort is 12.1% of total population, the basis used in the Demographics cohort chart.

Workforce by Occupation

Source: Census ACS 2020-2024 · Table C24010 · Civilian employed population 16+
Management / Professional
43.3%
Service
17.4%
Sales & Office
19%
Construction / Maint.
8.6%
Production / Transport
11.7%
Bars are drawn on a 0% to 60% axis, so bar length is proportional to actual share. Labels give each group's share of 18,742,898 employed workers.
Key Takeaways
  • Healthy participation: 66% of the population aged 18+ is in the labor force, reflecting a steady, available workforce statewide.
Source: ACS workforce data.

County Profiles

58 counties in California

Alameda County FIPS 06001 Alpine County FIPS 06003 Amador County FIPS 06005 Butte County FIPS 06007 Calaveras County FIPS 06009 Colusa County FIPS 06011 Contra Costa County FIPS 06013 Del Norte County FIPS 06015 El Dorado County FIPS 06017 Fresno County FIPS 06019 Glenn County FIPS 06021 Humboldt County FIPS 06023 Imperial County FIPS 06025 Inyo County FIPS 06027 Kern County FIPS 06029 Kings County FIPS 06031 Lake County FIPS 06033 Lassen County FIPS 06035 Los Angeles County FIPS 06037 Madera County FIPS 06039 Marin County FIPS 06041 Mariposa County FIPS 06043 Mendocino County FIPS 06045 Merced County FIPS 06047 Modoc County FIPS 06049 Mono County FIPS 06051 Monterey County FIPS 06053 Napa County FIPS 06055 Nevada County FIPS 06057 Orange County FIPS 06059 Placer County FIPS 06061 Plumas County FIPS 06063 Riverside County FIPS 06065 Sacramento County FIPS 06067 San Benito County FIPS 06069 San Bernardino County FIPS 06071 San Diego County FIPS 06073 San Francisco County FIPS 06075 San Joaquin County FIPS 06077 San Luis Obispo County FIPS 06079 San Mateo County FIPS 06081 Santa Barbara County FIPS 06083 Santa Clara County FIPS 06085 Santa Cruz County FIPS 06087 Shasta County FIPS 06089 Sierra County FIPS 06091 Siskiyou County FIPS 06093 Solano County FIPS 06095 Sonoma County FIPS 06097 Stanislaus County FIPS 06099 Sutter County FIPS 06101 Tehama County FIPS 06103 Trinity County FIPS 06105 Tulare County FIPS 06107 Tuolumne County FIPS 06109 Ventura County FIPS 06111 Yolo County FIPS 06113 Yuba County FIPS 06115

AI Insights

Sample output. Pulse AI analysis draws on 6 federal data sources.

Sample AI Insight

California shows meaningful potential for support activities for agriculture and forestry attraction, with a 4.93x concentration and 218,160 jobs in this sub-sector.

Cluster depth across support activities for agriculture and forestry, web search portals, libraries, and archives, and motion picture and sound recording industries creates supply-chain attraction leverage, a structural advantage for industrial recruitment.

Industry Shift Analysis

Manufacturing Automation Risk
High
Healthcare Growth Forecast
+4.2% CAGR
Remote Work Migration
67/100

Prospect Match Scores

Advanced Manufacturing
92/100
Life Sciences
84/100
Data Centers
71/100
Illustrative example

Take it further

AI Insights: Built into ExecutivePulse. Continuous analysis tied to your own pipeline: industry-shift signals, prospect matches, retention prompts.

Managed Services: Prefer to hand it off? Our team delivers the analysis and consulting for you.

Schedule a Demo
Available as premium offerings.

Data Sources

Updated from official federal government data.

Census ACS 5-Year2024
BLS QCEW2025
BEA Regional GDP2024
Census CBP2024
HUD Fair Market RentsFY2026
USAspending.govFY2026

Frequently Asked Questions

Key economic and demographic figures for California, from federal data sources.

What is the population of California?

39,287,377 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates).

What is the median household income in California?

$99,122 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates).

What is the unemployment rate in California?

5.3% (2024 annual average, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, LAUS).

What is the GDP of California?

$4,048.1B (BEA CAGDP2 (Regional)).