How Big Is California? Compare Its Size in Miles, Acres, Kilometers, and More!

California is the third-largest state in the United States. Just how big is the Golden State? Let’s explore.

Length and Width of California

California is much longer (north to south) than it is wide (east to west). The elongated shape of the state stretches almost 800 miles from Oregon to Mexico. That is roughly the distance from Tennessee to Texas.

It is over 550 miles wide at its widest point. That is roughly equivalent to the distance from Wisconsin to West Virginia.

California: Square Miles and Square Kilometers

The Golden State covers 163,695 square miles of land area. That is about 423,968 square kilometers.

California: Acres

California’s land area covers about 104,765,165 acres. One acre of land is 43,560 square feet. That is slightly smaller than a football field. Excluding the end zones, a football field is 48,000 square feet. You could fit a lot of football fields in the Golden State!

California Compared to the Largest States

Alaska is the largest state in the United States by a wide margin. At 665,384 square miles, it is more than four times the size of California.

Texas is the second-largest state in the nation. It is more than one and a half times larger than California at 268,596 square miles.

The fourth largest state is Montana, which is a little more than ten percent smaller than California at 147,040 square miles.

California Compared to the Smallest States 

California is almost 135 times larger than Rhode Island, the smallest state in the nation. Rhode Island’s land area is 1,214 square miles.

Delaware is the second smallest state in the U.S. at 1,982 square miles. California is almost 83 times the size of Delaware.

In fact, California’s Los Angeles County is over 800 square miles bigger than Rhode Island and Delaware combined.

Percentage of U.S. Land

California’s total land area accounts for around 4.3 percent of the total land mass of the United States. Texas owns just over seven percent of all U.S. land, while Alaska occupies almost 17.5 percent of the land in the United States. 

On the other end of the spectrum, Rhode Island accounts for about 0.04 percent, and Delaware holds around 0.07 percent of all U.S. land.

California Population

California is the third-largest state in terms of land area, but it is at the very top when it comes to population. Nearly 39 million people (2023 estimate) reside in the Golden State.

Texas has the second-largest population at around 31 million. Florida comes in third at more than 22.6 million.

Alaska is the biggest state in terms of land area, but it is one of the least populated. Only around 731,000 people live in Alaska’s vast expanse, making it the least densely populated state in the nation and the third-least populous state overall. (Population density is calculated by the number of people per square mile.) The only states with fewer people than Alaska are Wyoming (580,000) and Vermont (649,000).

Other Facts About California

Canada is the second-largest nation in the world by land area. It is more than 23.5 times larger than California, yet California’s population is roughly the same as the entire nation of Canada. 

Two of the top ten largest U.S. cities by population are in California: Los Angeles (2) and San Diego (8). San Jose is the 12th, and San Francisco is the 17th largest city in the U.S. 

California is not only a large state with a large population, but it is also home to some incredibly large trees. In fact, the biggest tree in the world by volume is found in the state. The General Sherman Tree in Sequoia National Park stands 275 feet tall and is over 36 feet in diameter at the base. 

The state is home to nine national parks, more than any other state.

California is large enough to house a very diverse climate. To illustrate the variance, the state has hosted both the Summer and Winter Olympic Games. Squaw Valley (now known as Olympic Valley) hosted the Winter Games in 1960. Los Angeles hosted the 1932 and 1984 Summer Games. The city is set to host the Summer Games for a third time in 2028.

The photo featured at the top of this post is © Angr / CC BY-SA 3.0 – License / Original