The local economy of California and its counties, metro areas and cities, from official US government data, plus daily local gas prices for the state, its counties and metro areas.
Unemployment rate
5.1%
-0.4 ptsvs a year ago
Counties: lowest San Mateo County 4.0%, highest Imperial County 21.9%.
August 2026, seasonally adjusted, preliminary
Average weekly pay
$1,986
+2.7%vs a year ago
18,211,770 jobs at 1,990,701 business locations.
Q1 2026, all jobs
New homes permitted
111,538
+14.3%this year vs last year
Most in Los Angeles County 29,499, San Diego County 10,538.
Homes in the last 12 months, to August 2026
People moving in
-209,197
-6.8 per 1,000residents
406,844 moved in and 616,041 moved out. Most newcomers came from Texas.
Net people, 2022 to 2023, the newest year published
California gas price
$6.32
+$1.65vs a year ago
Counties: lowest Imperial County $6.03, highest Mono County $7.28. Counties and metro areas
Regular, per gallon, California, October 10, 2026
Newest data: -. Not seasonally adjusted: compare with the same month a year earlier. Click a row for the history of that area.
The state, its counties and metro areas, updated daily. A separate series from the weekly survey prices above.
Business locations, employees and payroll by industry, 2023. Click an industry for its US report.
Business locations
1.03M
+0.6%vs 2022
2023, places with paid employees
Employees
16.4M
+2.3%vs 2022
Largest sector: Health Care and Social Assistance (14.3%).
2023, mid-March
Annual payroll
$1.43T
Wages and salaries paid during the year.
2023, all industries
Average pay
$87,119
Highest sector: Information $232,014.
Per employee per year
Share of California's employees, 2023
| Industry | Employees | Average pay |
|---|---|---|
| Restaurants and Other Eating Places | 1,404,974 | $28,689 |
| Employment Services | 1,053,799 | $74,036 |
| General Medical and Surgical Hospitals | 583,361 | $106,202 |
| Management of Companies and Enterprises | 387,376 | $192,582 |
| Grocery Stores | 332,219 | $37,424 |
| Software Publishers | 300,096 | $245,608 |
| Computer Systems Design and Related Services | 299,029 | $167,821 |
| Building Equipment Contractors | 259,566 | $88,024 |
| Outpatient Care Centers | 256,442 | $100,525 |
| Traveler Accommodation | 253,803 | $49,314 |
| Services to Buildings and Dwellings | 252,209 | $44,403 |
| Offices of Physicians | 241,978 | $112,080 |
Most values are changed slightly to protect the privacy of single businesses; a few are withheld and shown as a range. Counties and metro areas have the same numbers in the area card above (Industries).
Offered pay in certified work-visa filings, fiscal year 2025 (October 2024 to September 2025). Click a company for its jobs and salaries.
In fiscal year 2025, employers offered a median of $157,150 a year in 98,848 certified H-1B filings for jobs in California, up 4.2% from 2024 (US: $120,000). The largest job group was Software Developers. Fiscal year 2026 so far covers filings decided through Jun 30, 2026.
Median offered pay
$157,150
+4.2%vs 2024
Middle half: $124,197 to $194,000.
H-1B, fiscal year 2025
H-1B filings
98,848
+10.4%vs 2024
198,538 positions asked for.
Certified, full-time, fiscal year 2025
Top job group
$181,000
Software Developers, 33,898 filings.
Median offered pay of the largest job group
Green card jobs
$141,378
0.0%vs 2024
24,315 PERM filings.
PERM median, fiscal year 2025
Median and middle half of the offers in California, next to the US median. Hover a year for the numbers.
| Job group | Filings | Median pay |
|---|---|---|
| Software Developers | 33,898 | $181,000 |
| Geographic Information Systems Technologists and Technicians | 6,501 | $140,000 |
| Data Scientists | 6,028 | $159,548 |
| Electronics Engineers, Except Computer | 4,454 | $156,853 |
| Computer and Information Systems Managers | 3,200 | $229,756 |
| Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers | 3,081 | $135,741 |
| Industrial Engineers | 2,352 | $139,808 |
| Mechanical Engineers | 2,298 | $145,000 |
| Accountants and Auditors | 2,071 | $102,500 |
| Electrical Engineers | 1,795 | $156,624 |
| Employer | Filings | Cities |
|---|---|---|
| Google LLC GOOG | 5,843 | 40 |
| Apple Inc. AAPL | 5,390 | 15 |
| Meta Platforms, Inc. META | 3,860 | 54 |
| Amazon.com Services LLC AMZN | 2,900 | 59 |
| Tesla, Inc. TSLA | 1,740 | 56 |
| Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. QCOM | 1,649 | 9 |
| Wal-Mart Associates, Inc. WMT | 1,411 | 38 |
| Ernst & Young U.S. LLP | 1,367 | 125 |
| NVIDIA Corporation NVDA | 1,225 | 30 |
| Microsoft Corporation MSFT | 1,081 | 60 |
| City | Filings | Median pay | Middle half |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | 10,270 | $175,663 | $140,000 to $210,000 |
| San Jose | 10,239 | $169,770 | $138,362 to $203,000 |
| Sunnyvale | 10,176 | $173,584 | $151,221 to $199,534 |
| Santa Clara | 7,248 | $173,478 | $146,307 to $202,427 |
| Mountain View | 6,202 | $186,000 | $161,000 to $215,000 |
| San Diego | 4,843 | $130,688 | $115,782 to $159,100 |
| Cupertino | 3,647 | $180,000 | $153,254 to $205,132 |
| Menlo Park | 3,626 | $193,000 | $177,194 to $225,716 |
| Los Angeles | 3,442 | $110,000 | $81,099 to $153,069 |
| Palo Alto | 3,234 | $180,128 | $150,000 to $215,000 |
Yearly pay that employers offered in certified work-visa filings (H-1B, E-3 and PERM green card), from official public data. Pay is the lower end of the offered pay range, for full-time positions only. These are offered pay figures for positions in work-visa filings, not the pay of all employees. A filing is an offer for a position, not a hire, and one person can appear in several filings. Fiscal years run from October to September. Groups with fewer than 3 filings show counts only. Employers are ranked by filings in the cities of California added up.
Declared disasters and flood insurance claims: what happened, from official public data.
California has had 397 declared disasters and emergencies since 1954, 324 of them since 2000, most often Fire. Flood insurance has paid $761.2 million on 53,563 claims since 1978; the biggest year was 1995 ($116.1 million).
Declared disasters
324
53 major disasters. Most often Fire (299 since 1954).
Since 2000, all types; 397 since 1954
Flood claims paid
$237.0M
7,386 claims. Biggest year 1995 ($116.1M).
2016 to 2025, flood insurance
Policies in force
175,824
Average premium $946 a year.
2025, flood insurance policies
Most-declared county
67
Los Angeles County, latest Aug 8, 2025.
Declarations since 2000
Declarations for California, 1954 to today
Claims paid in California by the year of the flood, US dollars
Declarations since 1954
Declarations naming the county since 2000; statewide ones not counted
All years since 1978; policies are a yearly average. Top 15 of 56.
| # | County | Claims | Paid | Policies |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sonoma County | 7,403 | $132.1M | 3,324 |
| 2 | Los Angeles County | 9,104 | $72.4M | 18,272 |
| 3 | Marin County | 3,301 | $54.9M | 7,753 |
| 4 | San Diego County | 2,442 | $48.0M | 9,091 |
| 5 | Monterey County | 1,492 | $42.4M | 2,087 |
| 6 | Sacramento County | 3,864 | $38.7M | 53,928 |
| 7 | Santa Barbara County | 1,309 | $31.4M | 4,195 |
| 8 | Napa County | 1,361 | $29.8M | 1,798 |
| 9 | Santa Cruz County | 1,633 | $24.9M | 3,926 |
| 10 | Santa Clara County | 1,630 | $24.6M | 14,684 |
| 11 | Riverside County | 1,636 | $21.2M | 5,610 |
| 12 | Orange County | 3,839 | $21.2M | 15,837 |
| 13 | San Mateo County | 1,110 | $20.1M | 5,780 |
| 14 | Placer County | 628 | $16.1M | 1,383 |
| 15 | Ventura County | 1,331 | $16.0M | 6,821 |
A declaration opens federal help after a disaster; it can name counties or the whole state. Flood insurance numbers count insured losses only (most homes have no flood insurance) and are not adjusted for inflation; the current year is data so far. For the flood-zone risk of a place, open the area on the real estate map.
Environmental compliance records, workplace safety inspections and greenhouse gas reports of facilities in California, from official public data.
Official public data lists 19,649 facilities in California with records since 2010, 19,347 of them with environmental compliance records. In 2022 to 2026, the largest penalties were at Martinez Refining Company LLC (Previously Shell Oil Products US, Martinez Ref.) in Martinez ($6,434,500). 639 large facilities reported 99.4 million metric tons of greenhouse gases in 2023, down 1.6% from 2022.
Facilities with records
19,649
19,347 with environmental records.
Since 2010
Largest penalties
$6.43M
Martinez Refining Company LLC (Previously Shell Oil Products US, Martinez Ref.), Martinez.
One facility, 2022 to 2026
Greenhouse gases
99.4M t
-1.6%vs 2022
639 reporting facilities.
Metric tons CO2e, 2023
Largest emitter
6.12M t
Los Angeles Refinery (LAR), Carson.
Metric tons CO2e, 2023
| Facility | Penalties | Violations |
|---|---|---|
| Martinez Refining Company LLC (Previously Shell Oil Products US, Martinez Ref.) Martinez | $6,434,500 | 254 |
| Kern Energy Bakersfield | $4,903,920 | 87 |
| Owens-Brockway Glass Container Tracy Tracy | $4,161,203 | 30 |
| Chevron Refinery Richmond Richmond | $3,437,950 | 662 |
| Gem of Rancho Cordova LLC Rancho Cordova | $3,100,000 | 3 |
| Valero Benicia Asphalt Plant Benicia | $2,935,000 | 108 |
| Calif State Prison - Avenal Avenal | $2,627,303 | 7 |
| Schnitzer Steel Products CO Oakland | $2,540,000 | 16 |
| Greka Refining Company Santa Maria | $2,518,600 | 1 |
| Martinez Refining Martinez | $2,335,970 | 12 |
| Facility | Metric tons CO2e |
|---|---|
| Los Angeles Refinery (LAR) Carson | 6,119,030 |
| Chevron Refinery Richmond Richmond | 4,366,329 |
| Chevron El Segundo Refinery El Segundo | 3,250,629 |
| Valero Benicia Asphalt Plant Benicia | 2,996,794 |
| Martinez Refining Martinez | 2,356,381 |
| Moss Landing Moss Landing | 2,027,036 |
| Phillips 66 Company Wilmington Plant Wilmington | 1,825,648 |
| CEMEX Construction Materials Pacific LLC Apple Valley | 1,816,908 |
| Pastoria Energy Facility Lebec | 1,800,309 |
| Delta Energy Center, LLC Pittsburg | 1,630,421 |
Large facilities in California, metric tons of CO2 equivalent. Hover a year for the number.
Their facilities in California, 2022 to 2026. Click a company for its Risk & Compliance tab.
| Company | Facilities | Penalties | CO2e (t) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chevron Corporation CVX | 51 | $5.27M | 11.1M |
| O-I Glass, Inc. OI | 2 | $4.85M | 138K |
| ArcBest Corporation ARCB | 7 | $3.75M | - |
| Valero Energy Corporation VLO | 3 | $3.21M | 4.12M |
| PBF Energy Inc. PBF | 2 | $2.34M | 3.56M |
| Marathon Petroleum Corporation MPC | 8 | $1.93M | 6.70M |
| Republic Services, Inc. RSG | 20 | $597K | 1.41M |
| Tesla, Inc. TSLA | 6 | $275K | 47K |
Official public data on environmental compliance records, workplace safety inspections and greenhouse gas reports, summarized by facility and year since 2010. A record does not mean a site is unsafe today; penalties and violations vary a lot by industry and size. Penalties are the amounts assessed (after settlements), not amounts paid. Recent years can still change.
Cost, students and graduate earnings of the colleges in the state, from official public data.
The newest unemployment rate, pay, new home permits, moves and gas price for California, updated as new official numbers come out.
Unemployment for California is seasonally adjusted; for its counties, metro areas and cities it is not, so compare a month with the same month a year earlier. Pay covers all jobs that pay into unemployment insurance. Building permits count homes approved to be built, not homes sold. Moves count households by where they filed their tax returns in two years in a row. Daily gas prices are average pump prices for California, its counties and metro areas on the day shown. The weekly gas prices in the explorer come from a separate weekly survey that publishes a price for only some states, so a state without one shows the price of its region there; the two series are never combined.
The unemployment rate in California was 5.1% in August 2026 (seasonally adjusted, preliminary), compared with 5.5% a year earlier. 18,506,343 people were employed out of a labor force of 19,499,116. Among its counties, San Mateo County had the lowest rate (4.0%) and Imperial County the highest (21.9%, not seasonally adjusted).
Average weekly pay in California was $1,986 in Q1 2026, up 2.7% from a year earlier, across 18,211,770 jobs at 1,990,701 business locations.
Building permits were issued for 9,649 new homes in California in August 2026 (4,145 single-family and 5,262 in buildings with 5 or more units). From January to August the total was 75,156, up 14.3% from the same months last year, and 111,538 in the last 12 months. The most homes were permitted in Los Angeles County (29,499), San Diego County (10,538), Riverside County (7,421) over the last 12 months.
No, more people moved out than in. From 2022 to 2023, 406,844 people moved to California and 616,041 moved away, a net loss of 209,197 (-6.8 per 1,000 residents). Most newcomers came from Texas, New York, Washington, and most people who left went to Texas, Arizona, Nevada.
Regular gasoline in California averaged $6.32 per gallon on October 10, 2026, up $1.65 from a year earlier. Diesel averaged $8.39. Among its counties, Imperial County had the lowest regular price ($6.03) and Mono County the highest ($7.28). In the weekly survey, California averaged $6.23 in the week of October 5, 2026.
Health Care and Social Assistance (2,347,305 employees), Accommodation and Food Services (1,788,988 employees), Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services (1,738,165 employees) were the largest sectors in California in 2023. In all, 1,029,689 business locations employed 16,405,436 people at an average pay of $87,119 a year.
$157,150 a year was the median pay offered in 98,848 certified H-1B filings for jobs in California in fiscal year 2025 (October 2024 to September 2025), up 4.2% from 2024. The middle half of the offers ranged from $124,197 to $194,000. The US median was $120,000. These are offered pay figures in work-visa filings, not the pay of all workers.
Google LLC (5,843), Apple Inc. (5,390), Meta Platforms, Inc. (3,860), Amazon.com Services LLC (2,900), Tesla, Inc. (1,740) had the most certified H-1B filings for jobs in California in fiscal year 2025 (October 2024 to September 2025).
Software Developers (33,898 filings, median $181,000), Geographic Information Systems Technologists and Technicians (6,501 filings, median $140,000), Data Scientists (6,028 filings, median $159,548) were the largest job groups in certified H-1B filings in California in fiscal year 2025.
$193,000 was the median offered pay in Menlo Park, the highest among the California cities with the most H-1B filings in fiscal year 2025 (3,626 filings).
$141,378 a year was the median pay offered in 24,315 certified PERM green card filings for jobs in California in fiscal year 2025.
397 disasters and emergencies have been declared for California since 1954, 324 of them since 2000 (53 major disasters). The most common type is Fire (299 declarations).
Los Angeles County, with 67 declarations since 2000, followed by Riverside County (47) and San Bernardino County (40). Statewide declarations are not counted for single counties.
$761.2 million on 53,563 flood insurance claims since 1978. The biggest year was 1995, with $116.1 million paid on 8,261 claims. Sonoma County received the most ($132.1 million).
$946 a year in 2025, across 175,824 flood insurance policies in California. Most homes have no flood insurance; the premium depends on the home's flood risk and coverage.