Electric Consumer

Editor: Katerine G., Editor & Data Researcher · Research & publishing: Electric Consumer Editorial Team · Data retrieved · Sources named on this page: EIA-861, Census ACS, DOE LEAD, FEMA National Risk Index, OpenFEMA NFIP · How we got these numbers · Report an error

Counties in California ranked

4.3%of income goes to home energy in Sierra County, the highest of 58 California counties

San Francisco County is lowest at 0.8%, a gap of 5.5 times. The median California county sits at 2.8%, against 3.3% for the median U.S. county. Source for California: DOE LEAD 2022.

California county map

California counties, shaded by quintile of the selected measureSierra County: 4.3%Santa Barbara County: 1.4%Nevada County: 2.8%Los Angeles County: 1.7%San Bernardino County: 2.5%Riverside County: 2.4%Napa County: 1.9%Marin County: 1.3%San Joaquin County: 2.5%Santa Clara County: 1.1%Siskiyou County: 3.5%El Dorado County: 2.4%Alpine County: 2.5%Alameda County: 1.3%Tulare County: 3.3%Kern County: 2.9%Amador County: 3.2%San Francisco County: 0.8%Monterey County: 1.7%San Benito County: 1.8%San Mateo County: 1.2%Lassen County: 4.1%Stanislaus County: 2.5%Contra Costa County: 1.6%Fresno County: 2.8%Orange County: 1.4%Mariposa County: 3.6%Colusa County: 3.0%Inyo County: 3.8%Sacramento County: 1.9%San Luis Obispo County: 1.6%Placer County: 2.0%Mono County: 3.1%Kings County: 3.0%Merced County: 2.9%Mendocino County: 3.2%Solano County: 2.1%Del Norte County: 2.9%Yolo County: 1.9%Madera County: 3.0%Plumas County: 3.9%Tuolumne County: 3.4%Trinity County: 3.2%Imperial County: 3.1%Tehama County: 3.5%Calaveras County: 3.3%Butte County: 2.8%Humboldt County: 3.1%Shasta County: 3.2%San Diego County: 1.5%Yuba County: 3.1%Lake County: 3.4%Ventura County: 1.6%Glenn County: 3.1%Santa Cruz County: 1.6%Modoc County: 3.6%Sutter County: 2.8%Sonoma County: 1.9%
  • 0.8% to 1.7%
  • 1.7% to 2.5%
  • 2.5% to 3.0%
  • 3.0% to 3.3%
  • 3.3% to 4.3%

California counties, darker = higher. Click one for its page.

Highest energy burden in California

Sierra County leads California on burden at 4.3% of income and Lassen County follows at 4.1%. For lower-income homes the top is Sierra County: 15.8% of income, against 7.8% in the median California county.

home energy burden, % of income, top 10 California counties

  • Sierra County4.3
  • Lassen County4.1
  • Plumas County3.9
  • Inyo County3.8
  • Modoc County3.6
  • Mariposa County3.6
  • Tehama County3.5
  • Siskiyou County3.5
  • Lake County3.4
  • Tuolumne County3.4
  • California median county2.8
California counties with the lowest home energy burden
Lowest burden in CaliforniaShare of income (CA)Residents (CA)
San Francisco County0.8%836,321
Santa Clara County1.1%1,903,297
San Mateo County1.2%745,100
Alameda County1.3%1,651,949
Marin County1.3%258,765

Storm reports and FEMA risk in California

NOAA logged 378 damaging-wind, tornado, tropical, ice, winter and heat reports in Mono County from 2015 to 2025, 2,870 for every 100,000 residents: the most in California. FEMA scores Los Angeles County highest at 100.0 (very high). In California these are weather reports and an index, not outage counts.

California top 5: Storm reports per 100,000 residents
Top 5 in Californiareports 2015-2025 (CA)Residents (CA)Rank (CA)
Mono County2,87013,1691st
Mariposa County1,40117,0602nd
Modoc County1,3078,6463rd
Siskiyou County81043,8344th
Inyo County68118,8035th
California top 5: FEMA risk score
Top 5 in Californiascore 0-100 (CA)Residents (CA)Rank (CA)
Los Angeles County100.09,848,4061st
Riverside County99.92,449,9092nd
San Bernardino County99.82,187,8163rd
Orange County99.83,164,0634th
Alameda County99.81,651,9495th

Flood claims and flood insurance in California

Sonoma County has the most NFIP flood claims per 1,000 homes in California: 5.8 from 2015 to 2025, against 0.8 in the median California county. Sutter County has the highest share of homes with flood insurance (11.5%, median county 1.0%). Claims are a record of insured losses, not outage counts.

California top 5: Flood claims per 1,000 homes
Top 5 in Californiaclaims 2015-2025 (CA)Residents (CA)Rank (CA)
Sonoma County5.8485,6421st
San Benito County4.866,0562nd
Santa Cruz County4.8266,0213rd
Lake County4.868,1394th
Colusa County3.621,8955th
California top 5: Flood insurance penetration
Top 5 in California% of homes insured (CA)Residents (CA)Rank (CA)
Sutter County11.5%98,9711st
Sacramento County9.6%1,584,0472nd
Colusa County6.9%21,8953rd
Marin County5.4%258,7654th
Merced County5.2%285,5975th

FEMA OpenFEMA NFIP, as of 8 Sep 2026. Flood claims by county.

Outliers: California counties far from the state median

10 county-measure pairs sit 3 or more scaled median-absolute-deviation units from the California median. Most extreme: Mono County, storm reports per 100,000 residents 2,870 against a median of 46.

California outliers by deviation from the state median
CountyMeasureValueCalifornia medianDeviations
Mono CountyStorm reports per 100,000 residents2,87046+43.7
Mariposa CountyStorm reports per 100,000 residents1,40146+21.0
Modoc CountyStorm reports per 100,000 residents1,30746+19.5
Alpine CountyFEMA risk score10.694.8-12.4
Sutter CountyFlood insurance penetration11.5%1.0%+12.1
Siskiyou CountyStorm reports per 100,000 residents81046+11.8
Sacramento CountyFlood insurance penetration9.6%1.0%+9.9
Inyo CountyStorm reports per 100,000 residents68146+9.8
Plumas CountyStorm reports per 100,000 residents64846+9.3
Sierra CountyFEMA risk score31.594.8-9.3

Old homes, electric heat and utilities in California

San Francisco County has the oldest stock: 77% of homes date from before 1980. Electric heat is most common in Del Norte County at 62% of homes, and Los Angeles County lists 7 utilities, the most in California.

California top 5: Homes built before 1980
Top 5 in California% of homes (CA)Residents (CA)Rank (CA)
San Francisco County77%836,3211st
Marin County76%258,7652nd
San Mateo County73%745,1003rd
Los Angeles County71%9,848,4064th
Alameda County66%1,651,9495th
California top 5: Homes heated by electricity
Top 5 in California% of homes (CA)Residents (CA)Rank (CA)
Del Norte County62%27,2931st
Imperial County53%179,3192nd
Monterey County43%435,8343rd
Lake County40%68,1394th
Sacramento County38%1,584,0475th

Find your California county

  • Pick a California county to see its ranks.

All 58 California counties, sortable

58 California counties, all measures
Alameda County1,651,9491.3%6.2%1399.866%29%20.30.8%210
Alpine County1,6952.5%11.1%under 5,000 residents10.648%11%2no datano data377
Amador County41,0293.2%10.7%779.244%24%11.40.6%3
Butte County209,4702.8%8.5%493.949%33%11.01.9%9
Calaveras County45,9953.3%11.9%1386.633%15%11.50.4%6
Colusa County21,8953.0%7.2%981.151%37%13.66.9%2
Contra Costa County1,161,4581.6%7.5%1899.554%28%10.60.9%210
Del Norte County27,2932.9%8.2%27894.446%62%10.50.8%76
El Dorado County192,2992.4%10.1%20091.444%22%20.80.3%384
Fresno County1,012,1522.8%7.9%6599.349%35%20.10.3%662
Glenn County28,6233.1%7.4%no data74.454%33%12.03.3%no data
Humboldt County135,4183.1%7.5%20796.860%17%10.40.7%280
Imperial County179,3193.1%7.4%20596.539%53%2no data0.1%368
Inyo County18,8033.8%12.4%68179.363%20%3no data0.5%128
Kern County910,4332.9%7.9%12698.944%32%20.31.1%1,149
Kings County152,8303.0%7.6%11892.442%24%20.10.5%180
Lake County68,1393.4%10.2%793.050%40%14.82.4%5
Lassen County31,1774.1%11.4%42773.155%17%21.80.5%133
Los Angeles County9,848,4061.7%6.0%2100.071%29%70.40.5%184
Madera County158,7903.0%8.2%22996.438%30%20.31.0%364
Marin County258,7651.3%8.7%6196.476%25%12.55.4%158
Mariposa County17,0603.6%11.1%1,40186.438%17%1no datano data239
Mendocino County90,7093.2%9.6%12394.357%21%10.51.0%112
Merced County285,5972.9%7.0%6196.944%33%33.25.2%175
Modoc County8,6463.6%9.4%1,30739.758%25%3no data1.0%113
Mono County13,1693.1%12.7%2,87046.551%18%3no data1.1%378
Monterey County435,8341.7%4.6%4898.759%43%12.31.1%209
Napa County136,0701.9%6.8%7495.358%27%10.71.9%101
Nevada County102,4522.8%11.1%36989.943%16%20.40.2%378
Orange County3,164,0631.4%6.0%799.857%26%30.31.0%224
Placer County412,4352.0%8.8%9293.128%25%40.20.6%380
Plumas County19,6073.9%14.3%64886.449%12%21.10.5%127
Riverside County2,449,9092.4%7.7%3599.930%22%50.30.5%862
Sacramento County1,584,0471.9%6.4%098.149%38%20.99.6%7
San Benito County66,0561.8%4.9%9285.236%21%14.80.6%61
San Bernardino County2,187,8162.5%7.4%4399.844%21%40.20.3%945
San Diego County3,282,7821.5%5.5%1999.751%34%40.70.7%612
San Francisco County836,3210.8%4.8%799.577%35%20.10.1%59
San Joaquin County787,4162.5%7.5%098.645%28%30.51.8%2
San Luis Obispo County281,4861.6%5.9%1595.944%20%11.31.1%42
San Mateo County745,1001.2%6.6%4199.273%31%21.31.8%303
Santa Barbara County443,9751.4%5.0%1099.061%22%23.31.9%44
Santa Clara County1,903,2971.1%6.1%1699.760%35%30.51.7%307
Santa Cruz County266,0211.6%6.7%8897.864%25%14.82.5%234
Shasta County181,5543.2%10.2%293.447%33%41.00.8%3
Sierra County2,7314.3%15.8%under 5,000 residents31.557%12%23.51.8%125
Siskiyou County43,8343.5%9.7%81089.058%31%2no data0.8%355
Solano County450,8242.1%7.1%no data97.045%31%10.51.3%no data
Sonoma County485,6421.9%7.0%3399.152%25%15.81.1%160
Stanislaus County552,2502.5%7.0%296.948%26%30.20.4%11
Sutter County98,9712.8%8.2%283.749%28%11.511.5%2
Tehama County65,5203.5%8.5%1288.949%30%11.62.1%8
Trinity County15,8863.2%8.1%30279.557%29%1no data0.7%48
Tulare County475,7743.3%8.1%12197.046%22%21.02.9%577
Tuolumne County54,8733.4%11.1%23385.252%21%30.50.1%128
Ventura County838,2591.6%5.8%899.456%19%10.81.6%64
Yolo County217,7821.9%6.4%191.447%32%10.85.0%3
Yuba County83,0793.1%8.1%480.943%30%11.04.9%3

Download CSV, 58 rows

California: click a header to sort. Per-capita storm rates start at 5,000 residents.

Sources

California sources with periods and retrieval dates
SourcePeriodRetrieved
DOE LEAD (CA)20222 Oct 2026
FEMA NRI (CA)Dec 20252 Oct 2026
NOAA Storm Events (CA)2015 to 20252 Oct 2026
Census ACS (CA)2019 to 20232 Oct 2026
EIA-861 (CA)20241 Oct 2026

California LEAD figures are group estimates, not bills. Methodology.

Keep going

Other states: Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho.

Questions

Which California county has the highest home energy burden?

Sierra County: 4.3% of income, against 2.8% for the median California county (DOE LEAD 2022).

Which California county has the lowest energy burden?

San Francisco County at 0.8% of income.

How does California compare with the whole country?

The median California county has a burden of 2.8% and the median U.S. county 3.3%, across 58 California counties and 3,053 U.S. counties with data.

Where do storms cause the most trouble in California?

Mono County has the most NOAA storm reports per 100,000 residents: 2,870 between 2015 and 2025.

Which California county has the highest FEMA risk score?

Los Angeles County: 100.0, rated very high by FEMA (Dec 2025).

Where are the oldest homes in California?

San Francisco County: 77% of homes were built before 1980; the median California county is at 49% (Census ACS 2023).

Which California county relies most on electric heat?

Del Norte County: 62% of homes heat with electricity, against 27% in the median county.

Which California county has the most flood claims per home?

Sonoma County: 5.8 NFIP claims per 1,000 homes from 2015 to 2025; the median California county has 0.8 (FEMA OpenFEMA).

Are storm reports the same as power outages in California?

No: in California they are weather reports, not outage counts.

Where can California households get help with bills?

See the California help page. Highest burden: Sierra County.

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4.3% of income goes to home energy in Sierra County, the highest of 58 California counties