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Biggest Cities in California

Can you name the 20 most populous cities in California?
Source: 2021 Census Estimates
Quiz by Quizmaster
Rate:
Featured Quiz
Last updated: June 6, 2022
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First submittedMarch 19, 2012
Times taken111,309
Average score55.0%
Rating4.30
Quiz and answer stats >>
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Population
City
3,849,297
Los Angeles
1,381,611
San Diego
983,489
San Jose
815,201
San Francisco
544,510
Fresno
525,041
Sacramento
456,062
Long Beach
433,823
Oakland
407,615
Bakersfield
345,940
Anaheim
322,120
Stockton
317,261
Riverside
309,441
Santa Ana
309,031
Irvine
277,220
Chula Vista
227,514
Fremont
224,593
Santa Clarita
222,203
San Bernardino
218,771
Modesto
211,600
Moreno Valley
mariofan367
+4
Level 14
Mar 27, 2012
Got the first 9...
MrDuck
+3
Level 23
Feb 13, 2021
I got 18 and I live in Indiana but its still hard to get 9..
K7vn
+16
Level 62
Mar 31, 2012
13 and I'm from Romania. Not bad.
Pandora49
+8
Level 55
Sep 12, 2020
Not bad at all!
NeilV
+14
Level 51
Dec 22, 2020
Couple of years late :)
duhhnielle
+5
Level 32
Apr 5, 2012
7 and I'm from California :( I'm ashamed.
SWATkun
+5
Level 60
May 12, 2021
It's completely okay (つ≧▽≦)つ. You are not alone to not know a lot about where you live and there's nothing to be ashamed about it.
HollowYT
+2
Level 37
Jul 19, 2021
I just realized that you are now 15 or 16.
sizzly4packs
+7
Level 40
Apr 12, 2022
they meant they got 7 i think
truefoundation
+4
Level 20
Nov 13, 2012
This is tough if you're not from SoCal.
kalbahamut
+2
Level 83
Apr 13, 2013
No Richmond? Is that considered part of Oakland? Lived in or near a few of these towns myself... wonderful place to live, excluding Los Angeles, though LA has its own appeal to some.
dragoncat
+5
Level 78
Jun 10, 2014
Are you kidding? Richmond is definitely not part of Oakland. Though both have rough reputations.
kalbahamut
+3
Level 83
Jul 21, 2014
Why would I be kidding? They're right next to each other without any clear distinction.
wolfcat95
+6
Level 66
Jul 21, 2014
El Cerrito, Albany, Emeryville and Berkeley are all incorporated cities that lie between Richmond and Oakland. Few non-Bay Area residents and former residents may have heard of the first three, but Berkeley is hard to miss and is larger than Richmond.
kalbahamut
+3
Level 83
Jul 21, 2014
It's all one continuous urban area. I've heard of all of those places. I used to live in Richmond/San Pablo.
ChaosLord
+2
Level 73
Jul 15, 2022
Bit late to the game, but 'tis true. I've only heard of Emeryville because I'm a train buff and one of my life ambitions is to go on the California Zephyr.
Prakash14
+2
Level 56
Dec 14, 2019
I do agree after living in nearby Berkeley for a few years it is a wonderful place to live. In response to your question/comment Richmond isn't right next to Oakland and the population of Richmond is smaller than Berkeley around 110,000. Based off the numbers they didn't add Richmond or any of the others cities and towns in between it and Oakland, since Oakland has a population above 500,000.
Seals
+2
Level 53
Jun 11, 2013
100%, and I've never been less than about 1000 miles away from it!
yungcaff
+3
Level 13
Jun 11, 2013
i suck....i only got 5 but will not use that i am from east coast as an excuse
Swanseajoe
+2
Level 17
Sep 1, 2013
Should except san bernadino
plattitude
+2
Level 90
Oct 22, 2013
This + 1.
plattitude
+2
Level 90
Jul 21, 2014
Forgot the r again!
kalbahamut
+2
Level 83
Jul 22, 2014
I consistently remember it now. Forgot it the first time I took this quiz.
Quizmaster
+3
Level ∞
May 26, 2016
Will work now sans r
EytanMelech
+5
Level 67
May 29, 2020
*accept
JackintheBox
+2
Level 77
Jan 29, 2021
'except' 😁
RhaegarTargaryen
+2
Level 56
May 6, 2014
17/20 and I cheated like the rest of you.
ander217
+3
Level 76
Jul 7, 2014
Can't believe I missed San Jose. My daughter lived there for several years.
nikhil02
+3
Level 40
Jul 14, 2014
I am 12 years old and live in Fremont. got 20/20
Xxfraser599xX
+19
Level 22
Jul 26, 2014
Because we asked you how old you were...
EvanAviator
+14
Level 58
Jul 23, 2020
now you are 18 o_o
Froststar101
+10
Level 73
Sep 22, 2020
They grow up so fast...
Nordeee
+6
Level 28
May 6, 2021
now he's 19
ooftownroad
+4
Level 56
May 2, 2022
Now 20
Jae67
+4
Level 12
Jul 20, 2014
I got all of them but Fontana and I'm surprised that Huntington Beach isn't one of them
CoolDood
+2
Level 19
Jul 23, 2014
Ha! I got 20/20 with more than 3 minutes to spare!
CoolDood
+3
Level 19
Jul 23, 2014
Plus, I live in LA.
geograph13
+4
Level 18
Jul 24, 2014
i got 20/20 and I live in Christchurch New Zealand
cyninoregon
+6
Level 36
Dec 21, 2014
That's sad.
EytanMelech
+4
Level 67
May 29, 2020
I assumed you meant something else but I realized that this comment is from 6 years ago.
Dhian12
+5
Level 23
Dec 17, 2014
live in the UK and got 9/20. You guys that are from america and got less are just dumb.
cyninoregon
+7
Level 36
Dec 21, 2014
Dumb because they don't memorize the cities in California where developers are destroying everything to build malls, mini malls and suburbs. All these homes but not jobs or transit systems, infrastructure... So people spend hours in their cars trying to get to work where they can get a job, often 2 hours from home, then another 2 hours after 8 or 10 hours at work.... What a waste of mental energy. Most of these cities are no place you want to live, trust me. It's the ones that did not make the list where life is the most satisfying!
kalbahamut
+6
Level 83
Jan 31, 2019
Why should we trust you? California is beautiful and San Francisco is Mercer's #1 most livable city in the whole United States.
StealthyNinja467
+3
Level 28
Jun 7, 2019
I agree. I, as an American, realized this same thing when I started taking state quizzes and not getting many cities at all. Many American Jetpunkers, much like myself, focus almost exclusively on international geography and not much on national. Also, Kudos to you and everyone else from other countries who did well.
StealthyNinja467
+2
Level 28
Jun 7, 2019
BTW, I was replying to Dhian12's comment, not cyninoregon.
ander217
+2
Level 76
Jul 5, 2020
Or many Americans like myself know the names of large cities but not the ones in their metropolitan areas which have grown large from the overflow population of the larger nearby cities.
cyninoregon
+4
Level 36
Dec 21, 2014
Lived there most of my life and was shocked to see how Oxnard grew larger than Pasadena! And Santa Clarita didn't make the list either. Maybe it all depends on if there is room for growth--farms to turn into suburbs? When you drive north on the 101, after Santa Maria, it's all suburbs to the Bay Area. But the growth does not compare to Chula Vista...weird. And nothing on the list north of San Francisco? I found the video on youtube that lists these. I am still surprised. And all those cities we hated to drive through because of the smog--they have beautiful photos...the Air Quality Management Board and the Clean Air Act have done amazing work!! Those cities were too brown to see through the haze when I was a child! Now they are sparkling clear...Riverside may look like it did when my grandparents settled there many decades ago. Oregon is as smoggy as they are! Great theme!
squidpsyco
+2
Level 56
Feb 2, 2015
18 and I am from south dakota
bomber184
+2
Level 20
Feb 17, 2015
20/20 and I'm from Illinois.
bomber184
+2
Level 20
Feb 16, 2015
100% on second try.
quizmaster7777777
+2
Level 28
Jun 4, 2015
Never been to America and I got 14! :-)
caribdevist
+2
Level 62
Jul 30, 2015
Oh, wow, I didn't really Modesto had gotten so big.
Elan
+3
Level 65
Mar 22, 2016
I'm from San Ffancisco, and San Francisco, San Diego, and Sacramento are the only cities on this quiz that I would ever want to go to.
baguettecroissant
+4
Level 57
May 16, 2017
San Jose is fine too
Devvik
+2
Level 28
May 9, 2016
I been to Los Angeles, but I missed Oakland and Santa Ana:(
meimei
+4
Level 71
Jun 3, 2016
Got San Bernardino because of the shooting.
ander217
+5
Level 76
Oct 6, 2016
For non-Californians like me, it's difficult to know which cities in the LA area are part of LA and which are considered separate cities. i had to take the quiz twice to get them all. I only got Modesto because of the movie, American Graffiti.
Charliezard
+1
Level 66
Mar 25, 2022
I got Modesto from Monsters vs. Aliens lol
AlfieJMD
+3
Level 37
Oct 6, 2016
Top eleven minus Bakersfield and got San Bernardino. Really want to go to California one day, been to New England but I would really like to explore America and the west coast. Sounds stupid but I'm bored of England :/
kalbahamut
+3
Level 83
Oct 6, 2016
Why would that sound stupid?
Matthew07
+6
Level 45
Oct 6, 2016
Too UK Centric.
polothedoodle
+2
Level 80
Oct 6, 2016
I think you should give 2 more mins
RADLEGIT
+3
Level 7
Oct 12, 2016
I got 20 out of 20 and I'm from San Antonio,TX. Very pleased with myself.
Findlay
+2
Level 83
Nov 4, 2016
Missed Santa Ana, Fremont and Fontana. Almost forgot Sacramento too, but realised I didn't have it yet at the last moment.
GeoGuy8
+3
Level 58
Nov 11, 2017
Shouldn't Auckland be on here?
kolovozzz
+2
Level 33
Feb 15, 2018
I’m shook that there aren’t Redding and Santa Barbara on the list
Asterlan
+3
Level 57
Feb 9, 2021
Redding isn’t that big compared to the rest of California. The only reason I’ve heard of it is because it is so much further away from things.
DaffyDucktheWizard
+6
Level 61
Mar 3, 2018
San Jose is the bane of my existence on this website
Tonreeee
+4
Level 4
May 28, 2018
I got 11 and I live in frickin' San Diego. Maybe I shouldn't have taken this quiz after doing countries of the world quiz for literally 2 hours...
idontkn1
+3
Level 88
Aug 24, 2018
I haven't seen/been able to find anything that show Oxnard getting passed at 20th. The number you show for 20ths population is the 2015 estimate for Oxnard in fact.

****Nevermind**** downloaded census data and see it passed Oxnard. The population clues are still looking at old numbers though. So that might warrant updating

Quizmaster
+2
Level ∞
Aug 24, 2018
The numbers are now updated for 2017.
Canadian114443
+2
Level 44
Aug 24, 2018
Only got 9. Knew a lot more but it was difficult to know what is considered a suburb of LA or an actual city. I would have known 14 had I typed what I assumed were suburbs.
TravelingMama
+2
Level 73
Jul 10, 2019
The only cities on here that could be considered suburbs of LA are Long Beach, Santa Clarita and maybe Anaheim.
Asterlan
+3
Level 57
Feb 9, 2021
Suburb and city are not mutually exclusive. Many American suburbs are also cities with their own borders and governments.
Yanni47
+2
Level 75
Aug 26, 2018
What impresses me most is that after +56,000 quiz takers (or 6,000 since last reset) LA is still at 100%!
untitledDocument
+2
Level 23
May 13, 2019
i've been to a good amount of these cities. I would like to see/go to San Francisco and Sacramento one day-

imgettingboredofLAandothercitiessurroundingit

Bdubz
+3
Level 43
Jun 2, 2019
Helps to think of all the different UC's. Would have missed Irvine without that
callofduty45
+4
Level 55
Apr 16, 2020
not that anyone asked, but 20/20, and im a bosnian that lives in missouri
ander217
+5
Level 76
Jul 5, 2020
Hello, fellow Missourian. A little-known fact to many non-Missourians is the largest population of Bosnians living outside of Europe is in St. Louis.
Pandora49
+2
Level 55
Sep 12, 2020
Cool!
mapjunkie95
+2
Level 42
May 21, 2020
I did not expect fontana.. And I only like like 15-20 min away from there.
jbro
+2
Level 60
Jun 25, 2020
13/20 from NY
JeromesNiece
+5
Level 70
Jul 5, 2020
It's wild that California suburbs like Fontana, Moreno Valley, and Fremont all have populations of 200,000+ and are bigger than much more recognizable cities like Birmingham, Alabama; Salt Lake City, Utah; and Providence, Rhode Island.
HectorVortac
+2
Level 48
Jul 9, 2020
I worked in L.A. with a guy who commuted almost 2 hours one way from Fontana. We called it Fontucky. No, I didn't know it had gotten so big.
NotGaming
+2
Level 32
Nov 24, 2020
hehehe....
Chuck11
+2
Level 16
May 4, 2021
I live in Oklahoma and still got all of them right
Ravenna
+2
Level 57
May 10, 2021
I live in SoCal, but didn't get Fontana. You don't hear about Fontana much. And I didn't get the line between LA County and Orange County, so was trying to think of LA County cities, instead of Anaheim and Santa Ana.
NewYorker125
+2
Level 26
May 10, 2021
Got 12 :D I got the top 8, Anaheim, Stockton, Chula Vista, and San Bernadino.
Milsk
+2
Level 18
May 17, 2021
I can't believe I forgot San Jose.
Terran
+1
Level 61
Feb 2, 2022
I feel dumb for forgetting Oakland and Fresno.
Fingolia
+1
Level 42
Apr 1, 2022
I got 14 and I live in California
M8thias
+2
Level 25
Apr 12, 2022
i forgot Fontana...

I live in Fontana...................

GeoGeniusThe1
+1
Level 36
Jun 3, 2022
I got 14 and I am from Israel
Quizmaster
+2
Level ∞
Jun 6, 2022
San Francisco's population declined by 6.3% in one year from 2020 -> 2021. Crazy.
FlabberBapper
+2
Level 72
Jul 9, 2022
Combination of all the issues San Francisco has, and with the pandemic people realizing they can work from home not needing to live in cities like that to somewhere more affordable.
bgfootball19
+1
Level 20
Feb 17, 2023
Crazy that California has 23 cities with 200,000+ people. I'm in Washington and got 20/20 and we only have 4 cities
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