Cities in California by housing units
Los Angeles, CA had the highest housing units of 376 cities in 2021, at 1.5 million. Farmersville, CA had the lowest, at 2,870. The median was 16,290 and the figure for California was 14.33 million. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.
Top 40 cities, 2021
Full ranking
Other periods
About this ranking
All housing units, occupied and vacant: houses, apartments, mobile homes and rooms intended as separate living quarters. United States: American Community Survey five-year estimate, where the period shown is the last year of the five-year span.
A survey estimate averaged over five years, not a count on one date.
Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the cities are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.
How to cite
U.S. Census Bureau. American Community Survey 5-year estimates, table B25001: total housing units, US cities (incorporated places of 10,000 or more). https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary_file/2021/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/acsdt5y2021-b25001.dat. Retrieved 2026-10-12.Citation styles
APA 7
U.S. Census Bureau. (2026). American Community Survey 5-year estimates, table B25001: total housing units, US cities (incorporated places of 10,000 or more) (Cities in California by housing units, 2021) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary_file/2021/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/acsdt5y2021-b25001.dat
MLA 9
American Community Survey 5-year estimates, table B25001: total housing units, US cities (incorporated places of 10,000 or more), Cities in California by housing units, 2021. U.S. Census Bureau, 29 Jan. 2026, https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary_file/2021/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/acsdt5y2021-b25001.dat. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/housing-units/california-cities?period=2021. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.
Chicago (author-date)
U.S. Census Bureau. 2026. American Community Survey 5-year estimates, table B25001: total housing units, US cities (incorporated places of 10,000 or more). Cities in California by housing units, 2021. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary_file/2021/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/acsdt5y2021-b25001.dat. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/housing-units/california-cities?period=2021.
Harvard
U.S. Census Bureau (2026) American Community Survey 5-year estimates, table B25001: total housing units, US cities (incorporated places of 10,000 or more), Cities in California by housing units, 2021 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary_file/2021/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/acsdt5y2021-b25001.dat, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/housing-units/california-cities?period=2021 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).
BibTeX
@misc{census_cities_in_california_by_2021,
author = {{U.S. Census Bureau}},
title = {{American Community Survey 5-year estimates, table B25001: total housing units, US cities (incorporated places of 10,000 or more): Cities in California by housing units, 2021}},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {Data set},
url = {https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary_file/2021/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/acsdt5y2021-b25001.dat},
urldate = {2026-10-12},
note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/housing-units/california-cities?period=2021. Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. American Community Survey 5-year estimates, table B25001: total housing units, US cities (incorporated places of 10,000 or more). https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary\_file/2021/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/acsdt5y2021-b25001.dat. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY - DATA
AU - U.S. Census Bureau
TI - American Community Survey 5-year estimates, table B25001: total housing units, US cities (incorporated places of 10,000 or more): Cities in California by housing units, 2021
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/01/29
PB - U.S. Census Bureau
DB - Invokely
UR - https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary_file/2021/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/acsdt5y2021-b25001.dat
L2 - https://invokely.ai/rankings/housing-units/california-cities?period=2021
Y2 - 2026/10/12
N1 - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/housing-units/california-cities?period=2021.
N1 - Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. American Community Survey 5-year estimates, table B25001: total housing units, US cities (incorporated places of 10,000 or more). https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary_file/2021/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/acsdt5y2021-b25001.dat. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER -
Use this data in your AI agent
Invokely serves this figure to AI assistants through MCP and to code through a REST API, with the source and citation attached. Ask your assistant:
Rank Cities in California by housing units using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"housing_units","level":"municipality","within":"California","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=housing_units&level=municipality&within=California&limit=10Questions
Which city has the highest housing units?
Los Angeles, CA, with 1.5 million in 2021, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Which city has the lowest housing units?
Farmersville, CA, with 2,870 in 2021.
Where does this ranking come from?
Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates, table B25001: total housing units, US cities (incorporated places of 10,000 or more). Retrieved 2026-10-12.
Housing units: other rankings
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