You’re at your local Whole Foods shopping for kale chips and asparagus water, trying to work out if you’ll have time to stop at the Pottery Barn before you head to your yoga class taught by a girl named Sage. It hits you: you’re leading the whitest life imaginable.
But does that mean the city you live in is one of the whitest places in California?
Don’t worry, we’ve figured it out for you. Using actual census data combined with our favorite white people stereotypes (as confirmed by the internet), we can determine which cities are the whitest of the white in Golden State.
After analyzing cities with populations greater than 5,000, we came up with this list as the whitest cities in California for 2019.
- San Anselmo (Photos | Homes For Sale)
- Paradise (Photos | Homes For Sale)
- Loomis (Photos | Homes For Sale)
- Auburn (Photos | Homes For Sale)
- Sausalito (Photos | Homes For Sale)
- Pismo Beach (Photos | Homes For Sale)
- Woodside (Photos | Homes For Sale)
- Mill Valley (Photos | Homes For Sale)
- Sebastopol (Photos | Homes For Sale)
- Tiburon (Photos | Homes For Sale)
If you’re wondering, Parlier is the least white city of all those we measured.
Read on below to see where your hometown ranked and why. Or check out the whitest states in America and the most diverse states in America.
For more California reading, check out:
- These Are The 10 Best Places To Retire In California
- 10 Cheapest Places To Live In California
- These Are The 10 Richest Cities In California
How we determined the whitest places in California for 2019
In order to rank the whitest places in California, we had to determine what measurable criteria defines whiteness.
Obviously we had to count how many white people living there, specifically the percentage of white people living in each city in California.
Specifically, we looked at table B03002: Hispanic OR LATINO ORIGIN BY RACE. Here are the category names as defined by the Census:
- Hispanic or Latino
- White alone*
- Black or African American alone*
- American Indian and Alaska Native alone*
- Asian alone*
- Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone*
- Some other race alone*
- Two or more races*
Our particular column of interest here was the number of people who identified as White alone.
We limited our analysis to non-CDPs with a population greater than 5,000 people. That left us with 422 cities.
We then calculated the percent of residents that are White. The percentages ranked from 89.7% to 1.1%.
Finally, we ranked each city based on the percent of White population with a higher score being more White than a lower score. San Anselmo took the distinction of being the most White, while Parlier was the least White city.
Read on for more information on how the cities in California ranked by population of White residents or, for a more general take on diversity in America, head over to our ranking of the most diverse cities in America.
/10
Population: 12,619
% White: 89.74%
More on San Anselmo: Real Estate | Data | Photos
San Anselmo is an incorporated town in Marin County, California, United States. San Anselmo is located 1.5 miles west of San Rafael, at an elevation of 46 feet. It is located about 20 miles north of San Francisco. Neighboring towns include San Rafael to the east, Fairfax to the west, and Ross to the south. Mount Tamalpais dominates the view to the south. The population was 12,336 at the 2010 census.
/10
Population: 26,437
% White: 88.25%
More on Paradise: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Paradise is an incorporated town in Butte County, California. It is located in the Sierra Nevada foothills above the northeastern Sacramento Valley.
/10
Population: 6,727
% White: 88.18%
More on Loomis: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Loomis is an incorporated town in Placer County, California, United States. It is part of the Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Roseville Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 6,733 as estimated by the US Census in 2015.
/10
Population: 13,911
% White: 85.18%
More on Auburn: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Auburn is a city in and the county seat of Placer County, California. Its population was 13,330 during the 2010 census. Auburn is known for its California Gold Rush history, and is registered as a California Historical Landmark.
/10
Population: 7,147
% White: 84.92%
More on Sausalito: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Sausalito is a city in Marin County, California. Located 8 miles south-southeast of San Rafael, at an elevation of 13 feet, and is located 7km north of San Francisco.
/10
Population: 8,060
% White: 84.02%
More on Pismo Beach: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Pismo Beach is a city in San Luis Obispo County, in the Central Coast area of California, United States. The estimated population was 7,931 in 2014, up from 7,655 in the 2010 census. It is part of the Five Cities Area, a cluster of cities in that area of San Luis Obispo County. The “5 Cities” is actually only 3 cities; Grover Beach, Pismo Beach, and Arroyo Grande. Oceano is a Community Service District and Shell Beach is part of Pismo Beach. Pismo Beach’s motto is “Clam Capital of the World”.
/10
Population: 5,550
% White: 84.02%
More on Woodside: Real Estate | Data | Photos
/10
Population: 14,392
% White: 83.39%
More on Mill Valley: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Mill Valley is a city in Marin County, California, United States, located about 14 miles north of San Francisco via the Golden Gate Bridge. The population was 13,903 at the 2010 census.
/10
Population: 7,653
% White: 83.24%
More on Sebastopol: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Sebastopol or is a city in Sonoma County, California, United States, approximately 52mi north of San Francisco. The population was 7,379 at the 2010 census, but its businesses also serve surrounding rural portions of Sonoma County, a region known as West County, which has a population of up to 50,000 residents.
/10
Population: 9,205
% White: 83.06%
More on Tiburon: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Tiburon is an incorporated town in Marin County, California. It is located on the Tiburon Peninsula, which reaches south into the San Francisco Bay. The smaller city of Belvedere occupies the south-west part of the peninsula and is contiguous with Tiburon. Tiburon is bordered by Corte Madera to the north and Mill Valley to the west, but is otherwise mostly surrounded by the Bay. Besides Belvedere and Tiburon, much of the peninsula is unincorporated, including portions of the north side and the communities of Strawberry and Paradise Cay.
There You Have It – White Populations Across California
Measuring the locations with the highest percentage of white people, this list provides accurate information on the whitest places in California according to the most recent data.
If you’re curious enough, here are the least White places in California:
- Parlier
- Compton
- Mendota
For more California reading, check out:
Detailed List Of The Whitest Cities In California
| Rank | City | % White |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Anselmo | 89.74% |
| 2 | Paradise | 88.25% |
| 3 | Loomis | 88.18% |
| 4 | Auburn | 85.18% |
| 5 | Sausalito | 84.92% |
| 6 | Pismo Beach | 84.02% |
| 7 | Woodside | 84.02% |
| 8 | Mill Valley | 83.39% |
| 9 | Sebastopol | 83.24% |
| 10 | Tiburon | 83.06% |
| 11 | Grass Valley | 82.35% |
| 12 | Ojai | 82.26% |
| 13 | Laguna Beach | 82.13% |
| 14 | Malibu | 81.91% |
| 15 | Rancho Mirage | 81.91% |
| 16 | Fairfax | 81.84% |
| 17 | Newport Beach | 81.19% |
| 18 | Sonoma | 80.84% |
| 19 | Morro Bay | 80.81% |
| 20 | Canyon Lake | 80.73% |
| 21 | Shasta Lake | 79.9% |
| 22 | Larkspur | 79.86% |
| 23 | Placerville | 79.26% |
| 24 | Hermosa Beach | 79.11% |
| 25 | Pacific Grove | 78.99% |
| 26 | Corte Madera | 78.93% |
| 27 | Encinitas | 78.88% |
| 28 | Westlake Village | 78.86% |
| 29 | Beverly Hills | 78.85% |
| 30 | Scotts Valley | 78.6% |
| 31 | Solana Beach | 78.4% |
| 32 | Truckee | 78.4% |
| 33 | Redding | 77.91% |
| 34 | Danville | 77.13% |
| 35 | Atascadero | 76.86% |
| 36 | Lafayette | 76.74% |
| 37 | Yreka | 76.74% |
| 38 | Rio Vista | 76.68% |
| 39 | Calabasas | 76.46% |
| 40 | Laguna Woods | 75.9% |
| 41 | Dana Point | 75.82% |
| 42 | Clayton | 75.77% |
| 43 | Coronado | 75.09% |
| 44 | Agoura Hills | 74.9% |
| 45 | Manhattan Beach | 74.73% |
| 46 | West Hollywood | 74.65% |
| 47 | Red Bluff | 74.56% |
| 48 | Arroyo Grande | 73.75% |
| 49 | Carlsbad | 73.65% |
| 50 | Fortuna | 73.47% |
| 51 | San Clemente | 73.2% |
| 52 | Seal Beach | 72.55% |
| 53 | Los Gatos | 72.53% |
| 54 | Anderson | 72.5% |
| 55 | San Luis Obispo | 72.3% |
| 56 | Atherton | 71.85% |
| 57 | Chico | 71.73% |
| 58 | Escalon | 71.69% |
| 59 | Arcata | 71.53% |
| 60 | Orinda | 71.33% |
| 61 | Rocklin | 71.32% |
| 62 | Eureka | 70.79% |
| 63 | Piedmont | 70.26% |
| 64 | Walnut Creek | 70.18% |
| 65 | Cotati | 70.13% |
| 66 | Santee | 69.95% |
| 67 | Citrus Heights | 69.86% |
| 68 | San Carlos | 69.82% |
| 69 | Calimesa | 69.68% |
| 70 | Petaluma | 69.37% |
| 71 | Roseville | 69.15% |
| 72 | Thousand Oaks | 68.4% |
| 73 | Lincoln | 68.1% |
| 74 | Ripon | 67.76% |
| 75 | Martinez | 67.66% |
| 76 | Solvang | 67.59% |
| 77 | Yucca Valley | 67.43% |
| 78 | Villa Park | 67.36% |
| 79 | Big Bear Lake | 67.11% |
| 80 | Moraga | 66.89% |
| 81 | Mission Viejo | 66.87% |
| 82 | Sierra Madre | 66.63% |
| 83 | Laguna Niguel | 66.48% |
| 84 | Pleasant Hill | 66.16% |
| 85 | Monterey | 65.67% |
| 86 | Palos Verdes Estates | 65.54% |
| 87 | South Lake Tahoe | 65.31% |
| 88 | Palm Desert | 65.15% |
| 89 | Santa Monica | 64.95% |
| 90 | El Segundo | 64.64% |
| 91 | Novato | 64.38% |
| 92 | Ridgecrest | 64.31% |
| 93 | St. Helena | 64.3% |
| 94 | Santa Cruz | 63.75% |
| 95 | Livermore | 63.72% |
| 96 | Poway | 63.67% |
| 97 | Los Altos Hills | 63.44% |
| 98 | Rancho Santa Margarita | 63.36% |
| 99 | Oakdale | 63.19% |
| 100 | Huntington Beach | 63.1% |
