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Bars in California

How many bars exist per person present (residents + daytime workers) across the 35 California counties we cover, by ZIP code, compared with the U.S. average. Data: Census ZBP 2023 + ACS 2024 + BLS QCEW.

Includes: Bars & taverns · Pubs & brewpubs (drinking-focused) · Cocktail & wine bars · Taprooms. Counted together because official statistics use one 722410 code.

State verdict (covered counties): Well below the U.S. rate — 56% of the U.S. rate
Counties covered
35
in California
Bars
2,598
establishments (2023)
Per 10,000 present
0.6
residents + 0.5×workers
U.S. average
1.0
per 10,000 present
State index
56%
vs. U.S.
Residents
38,319,676
in covered counties
Workers
15,030,202
jobs in covered counties
Coverage. This page aggregates only the 35 California counties BizGapMap covers — not the whole state. Counts and the index reflect those counties. The aggregate index uses only ZIP cells Census published, so it is a lower bound. Density is a supply-side signal: it counts existing bars and the people present, not foot traffic, income, rent, or whether locals want more.

Counties in California

CityCounty BarsResidentsWorkers Per 10kIndexVerdict
San Francisco San Francisco County 381–415 830,479 727,248 3.2 316–326% Very high density
Goleta Santa Barbara County 63–119 443,781 158,550 1.2 119–176% Range spans bands
Napa Napa County 20–38 135,313 65,776 1.2 118–200% Range spans bands
Santa Cruz Santa Cruz County 35–65 272,278 80,401 1.1 111–174% Range spans bands
San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo County 33–85 271,285 97,546 1.0 102–201% Range spans bands
West Sacramento Yolo County 24–52 222,458 74,293 0.9 92–183% Range spans bands
Chico Butte County 22–56 207,286 61,889 0.9 92–208% Range spans bands
Eureka Humboldt County 13–75 134,385 33,944 0.9 85–465% Range spans bands
Redding Shasta County 18–68 190,130 53,985 0.8 82–274% Range spans bands
Santa Rosa Sonoma County 47–115 485,213 174,040 0.8 81–168% Range spans bands
San Diego San Diego County 312–570 3,282,423 1,385,217 0.8 78–114% Range spans bands
Fremont Alameda County 145–219 1,655,008 750,285 0.7 71–98% Below average
El Dorado Hills El Dorado County 13–57 192,693 49,889 0.6 59–223% Range spans bands
San Rafael Marin County 18–84 257,061 106,330 0.6 58–211% Range spans bands
Folsom Sacramento County 104–198 1,596,140 531,159 0.6 55–93% Range spans bands
El Segundo Los Angeles County 603–1,219 9,801,306 3,924,098 0.5 51–82% Range spans bands
Fairfield Solano County 26–44 449,663 122,066 0.5 50–82% Range spans bands
Modesto Stanislaus County 32–74 559,023 148,684 0.5 50–106% Range spans bands
Irvine Orange County 198–402 3,175,270 1,572,620 0.5 50–77% Range spans bands
Roseville Placer County 24–70 422,233 166,507 0.5 47–137% Range spans bands
Santa Clara Santa Clara County 102–254 1,935,981 1,162,159 0.4 40–74% Range spans bands
Menlo Park San Mateo County 40–94 713,109 457,352 0.4 39–83% Range spans bands
Bakersfield Kern County 39–139 915,763 218,146 0.4 38–111% Range spans bands
Concord Contra Costa County 48–126 1,159,422 342,009 0.4 36–82% Range spans bands
Hanford Kings County 6–22 152,269 28,375 0.4 36–119% Range spans bands
Ventura Ventura County 31–101 841,297 285,173 0.3 31–72% Range spans bands
Tracy San Joaquin County 27–95 796,477 232,266 0.3 29–88% Range spans bands
Fresno Fresno County 33–151 1,021,317 301,306 0.3 28–109% Range spans bands
Monterey Monterey County 12–74 426,948 115,284 0.2 25–135% Range spans bands
Riverside Riverside County 64–234 2,482,806 674,999 0.2 22–64% Range spans bands
Ontario San Bernardino County 50–244 2,195,107 711,262 0.2 19–78% Range spans bands
Merced Merced County 5–43 288,279 48,681 0.2 16–130% Range spans bands
El Centro Imperial County 3–31 174,015 33,702 0.2 16–151% Range spans bands
Visalia Tulare County 7–73 473,757 104,822 0.1 13–119% Range spans bands
Madera Madera County 0–26 159,701 30,139 0.0 0–136% Range spans bands

Scroll the table sideways to see all columns.

Lowest vs. highest measured density

Fewest competitors per capita

San Francisco
316%
Goleta
119%
Napa
118%
Santa Cruz
111%
San Luis Obispo
102%
West Sacramento
92%
Chico
92%
Eureka
85%

Most competitors per capita

Madera
0%
Visalia
13%
El Centro
16%
Merced
16%
Ontario
19%
Riverside
22%
Monterey
25%
Fresno
28%
Low measured density is not evidence of opportunity. A county with few bars may simply lack foot traffic, retail space, or demand. Use the ranking to find where to look, then verify locally.

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BizGapMap — free, no-login small-business saturation reports for major U.S. counties. Built entirely from public U.S. Census, BLS, and IRS data (ZBP 2023, ACS 2024 5-year, PEP 2024, LODES, QCEW, IRS SOI). No forecasts, no revenue guesses — withheld cells are marked, and the few derived counts are labelled as estimates.