List of California Counties by Human Development Index

California Counties by HDI 2024

This list ranks all 58 counties in California by their Human Development Index (HDI), a composite measure of income, education, and life expectancy. The highest HDI counties are Marin (0.974), Santa Clara (0.967), San Mateo (0.966), and San Francisco (0.965), all in the Bay Area, reflecting the region's concentration of wealth, education, and health resources. At the other end, Tulare County (0.888), Imperial County (0.889), and Del Norte and Kern County (both 0.892) rank lowest, representing largely rural and agricultural counties. Mono County (0.965) is now included in the ranking with corrected data. Overall, the list highlights the HDI gap between urban coastal counties and rural inland regions.. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

List

California Counties by HDI

Rank	County	HDI
Very High Human Development
1	Marin	0.974
2	Santa Clara	0.967
3	San Mateo	0.966
4	San Francisco	0.965
5	Mono	0.965
6	Alameda	0.955
7	Santa Cruz	0.951
8	Contra Costa	0.950
9	Orange	0.950
10	Placer	0.949
11	Yolo	0.946
12	El Dorado	0.945
13	San Diego	0.945
14	San Luis Obispo	0.945
15	Amador	0.945
16	Sonoma	0.945
17	Ventura	0.944
18	Napa	0.944
19	Calaveras	0.943
20	Mariposa	0.943
21	Sierra	0.942
22	Santa Barbara	0.940
California		0.940
23	Nevada	0.936
24	Los Angeles	0.936
25	Monterey	0.936
26	Butte	0.935
27	San Benito	0.933
28	Solano	0.932
29	Colusa	0.929
30	Riverside	0.927
31	Alpine	0.926
32	Plumas	0.926
33	Sacramento	0.925
34	Inyo	0.920
35	Mendocino	0.917
36	Humboldt	0.916
37	Tuolumne	0.913
38	Modoc	0.912
39	Sutter	0.911
40	Tehama	0.908
41	San Joaquin	0.906
42	Trinity	0.904
43	San Bernardino	0.904
44	Shasta	0.903
45	Stanislaus	0.902
46	Fresno	0.902
47	Siskiyou	0.901
48	Lassen	0.900
49	Glenn	0.898
50	Lake	0.897
51	Kings	0.897
52	Yuba	0.897
53	Madera	0.895
54	Merced	0.893
55	Kern	0.892
56	Del Norte	0.892
57	Imperial	0.889
58	Tulare	0.888

References

1. "California Human Development Reports". Insightorium. August 11, 2025. Retrieved August 12, 2025.
2. "Education Index Report". Globaldata Lab. Retrieved August 12, 2025.
3. "California Counties by Education Attainment". StatisticalAtlas. Retrieved August 12, 2025.