List of urbanized areas in California (by population)

A list of urbanized areas in California (sorted into groups by population) is below. This list aggregates cities together into larger urbanized areas whenever possible (for example, because they have sprawled together into a single contiguous mass). Cities that are important in their own right but are part of a larger urbanized area are listed under "Important suburbs."

For a complete list of California cities, please see List of cities in California and List of cities in California (by population).

Population > 10,000,000 (urbanized area)

*Los Angeles–Long Beach–Santa Ana (part of the Greater Los Angeles Area)
**Estimated population (as of 2007) is 12.92 million
***Greater Los Angeles Area (as of 2007) is 17.78 million

Population > 2,500,000 (urbanized area)

*San Francisco–Oakland (part of the San Francisco Bay Area)
**Estimated population (as of 2007) of 4.18 million
*Riverside–San Bernardino–Ontario (Inland Empire, Riverside-San Bernardino Area)
**Estimated population (as of 2007) is 4.03 million
*San Diego
**Estimated population (as of 2007) is 2.94 million

Population > 1,000,000 (urbanized area)

*Sacramento
**Estimated population (as of 2007) is 2.20 million
*San Jose (part of the San Francisco Bay Area)
**Estimated population (as of 2007) is 1.74 million
*Fresno
**Estimated population (as of 2007) is 1.02 million

Population > 500,000 (urbanized area)

*Bakersfield
**Estimated population (as of 2007) is 0.78 million
*Palmdale–Lancaster (Antelope Valley), (part of the Greater Los Angeles Area)
**Estimated population (as of 2007) is 0.59 million

Population > 250,000 (urbanized area)

*Oxnard–Ventura
*Stockton
*Modesto
*Santa Rosa
*Indio–Cathedral City–Palm Springs (Coachella Valley), (part of the Riverside-San Bernardino Area)
*Victorville–Hesperia–Apple Valley (Victor Valley), (part of the Riverside-San Bernardino Area)

Population > 100,000 (urbanized area)

*Temecula–Murrieta (part of the Riverside-San Bernardino Area)
*Antioch
*Thousand Oaks
*Santa Barbara
*Salinas
*Santa Clarita (part of the Greater Los Angeles Area)
*Vallejo (part of the San Francisco Bay Area)
*Santa Cruz (part of the San Francisco Bay Area)
*Seaside–Monterey–Marina
*Santa Maria
*Visalia
*Hemet (part of the Greater Los Angeles Area)
*Fairfield (part of the San Francisco Bay Area)
*Simi Valley (part of the Greater Los Angeles Area)
*Merced
*Redding
*Chico
*Madera

Population > 10,000 (urbanized area)

Alphabetically sorted list of urbanized areas and urban clusters with populations between 10,000 and 24,999.

;A-L

;M-Z

Important suburbs (within or near the urbanized area in parentheses)

*Anaheim (Orange County Area, Greater Los Angeles)
*Berkeley (San Francisco Bay Area)
*Burbank (Greater Los Angeles)
*Citrus Heights (Sacramento Area)
*Elk Grove (Sacramento Area)
*Folsom (Sacramento Area)
*Fremont (San Francisco Bay Area)
*Glendale (Greater Los Angeles)
*Hayward (San Francisco Bay Area)
*Irvine (Orange County Area, Greater Los Angeles)
*Newport Beach (Orange County Area, Greater Los Angeles)
*Ontario (Greater Los Angeles)
*Pasadena (Greater Los Angeles)
*Rancho Cordova (Sacramento Area)
*Redwood City (San Francisco Bay Area)
*Roseville (Sacramento Area)
*Santa Clara (San Francisco Bay Area)
*Sunnyvale (San Francisco Bay Area)
*Torrance (Greater Los Angeles)
*Walnut Creek (San Francisco Bay Area)