Which California counties score best for off-grid living?

Of the 58 California counties we have scored, Lassen County scores highest at 81 and Imperial County lowest at 58. California ranks 45th of 50 overall, at 69 out of 100 (Major concerns). Buildability separates its counties most: 0 to 9 out of 10.

Updated 2026-09-27 · 58 counties · 324 spots of private rural land scored

Major concernsCalifornia ranks 45th of 50, 69 out of 100, in the Best States ranking: the typical parcel on the state's private rural land, with each scored spot weighted by the land it stands for. On a fresh draw of counties it would rank between #41 and #46. City counties with little private rural land have no page, and any parcel can be scored, free, below.

Every scored county in California, best score first

Find a county58 counties


Lassen → 6 people / sq mi	81	17	19	15	13	8	9
Madera → 76 people / sq mi	80	16	19	14	12	10	9
Sonoma → 306 people / sq mi	79	18	19	13	10	12	7
Nevada → 107 people / sq mi	78	19	17	14	10	12	6
Yuba → 136 people / sq mi	78	16	19	14	12	11	6
Alpine → 2 people / sq mi	77	19	19	15	7	9	8
El Dorado → 113 people / sq mi	77	17	19	13	12	11	5
Marin → 489 people / sq mi	77	18	18	15	10	10	6
San Joaquin → 575 people / sq mi	77	17	18	15	11	10	6
Colusa → 19 people / sq mi	76	15	19	15	12	8	7
Contra Costa → 1611 people / sq mi	76	16	19	14	10	9	8
Fresno → 171 people / sq mi	76	14	19	15	12	8	8
Glenn → 21 people / sq mi	76	16	19	14	12	9	6
Lake → 54 people / sq mi	76	18	17	14	8	12	7
Shasta → 48 people / sq mi	76	18	18	14	9	11	6
Modoc → 2 people / sq mi	75	17	15	15	13	6	9
Tehama → 22 people / sq mi	75	18	17	14	9	11	6
Amador → 70 people / sq mi	74	16	18	14	12	11	3
Butte → 127 people / sq mi	74	16	17	14	11	12	4
Merced → 151 people / sq mi	74	16	19	14	11	8	6
Sacramento → 1641 people / sq mi	74	15	18	14	12	9	6
Alameda → 2200 people / sq mi	73	16	19	14	10	8	6
San Mateo → 1619 people / sq mi	73	17	18	13	11	11	3
Tulare → 99 people / sq mi	73	13	19	14	13	8	6
Los Angeles → 2380 people / sq mi	72	12	19	15	10	7	9
Mariposa → 12 people / sq mi	72	13	19	15	12	9	4
Santa Barbara → 161 people / sq mi	72	15	17	15	11	7	7
Siskiyou → 7 people / sq mi	72	19	18	14	11	9	1
Tuolumne → 24 people / sq mi	72	13	16	12	12	12	7
Placer → 301 people / sq mi	71	16	16	14	11	8	6
Plumas → 8 people / sq mi	71	16	18	15	10	9	3
Sutter → 163 people / sq mi	71	17	18	14	10	8	4
Calaveras → 46 people / sq mi	70	16	18	12	11	11	2
San Bernardino → 109 people / sq mi	70	13	16	15	11	6	9
Trinity → 5 people / sq mi	70	18	19	13	9	10	1
Inyo → 2 people / sq mi	69	13	14	15	12	7	8
Mono → 4 people / sq mi	69	14	16	15	12	5	7
San Luis Obispo → 85 people / sq mi	69	13	19	15	11	7	4
Solano → 547 people / sq mi	69	15	18	14	10	8	4
Stanislaus → 369 people / sq mi	69	15	16	13	12	7	6
Riverside → 346 people / sq mi	68	13	18	13	8	8	8
San Francisco → 17323 people / sq mi	68	11	13	14	13	10	7
Orange → 3955 people / sq mi	67	11	19	15	8	8	6
Santa Cruz → 588 people / sq mi	67	16	17	15	8	11	0
Mendocino → 25 people / sq mi	66	18	17	14	6	11	0
Napa → 177 people / sq mi	66	17	16	15	8	10	0
Humboldt → 38 people / sq mi	65	20	16	13	6	10	0
Sierra → 3 people / sq mi	65	18	16	15	8	8	0
Yolo → 218 people / sq mi	65	17	19	14	7	7	1
Del Norte → 26 people / sq mi	64	20	17	12	5	10	0
Monterey → 131 people / sq mi	64	14	16	15	9	7	3
San Benito → 49 people / sq mi	64	16	18	12	8	8	2
San Diego → 777 people / sq mi	64	14	17	15	10	6	2
Ventura → 451 people / sq mi	63	11	19	15	9	7	2
Kings → 110 people / sq mi	62	6	16	14	12	7	7
Kern → 112 people / sq mi	61	5	17	15	11	6	7
Santa Clara → 1454 people / sq mi	61	16	16	15	8	6	0
Imperial → 43 people / sq mi	58	7	19	10	9	5	8

Score is out of 100: Water 25, Legal 20, Solar 15, Hazard 15, Food 15, Buildability 10. Green cells score 80% or better of their maximum; amber cells under 70%.

Where the good land is

9% of California's private rural land scores Good with caveats or better (80 or more). The strongest counties are Lassen, Madera and Sonoma. The weakest are Imperial, Kern and Santa Clara. Where the land falls short, it is most often on building (slope, septic and land price) and water (rain, wells and salty or weak wells).

What separates them

Buildability: Lassen County scores 9 of 10, Santa Clara County 0. Slope, the septic the ground needs, footings, and the county's land price. A steep or soggy lot that fails a septic test is the dealbreaker photos hide.
Water: Humboldt County scores 20 of 25, Kern County 5. Drinking, system, and irrigation water, the #1 reason off-grid and homestead plans collapse. A low score means a deep, costly well or hauled water.
Hazard: Lassen County scores 13 of 15, Del Norte County 5. Flood, wildfire, seismic, and severe-weather exposure: the risks that raise insurance and build cost or strand a parcel.
Food: Sonoma County scores 12 of 15, Imperial County 5. Soil quality, frost-free growing days, and rainfall: what decides whether you can actually feed yourself and your animals.
Solar: Lassen County scores 15 of 15, Imperial County 10. Year-round solar potential, including the darkest month, and how much energy it takes to heat and cool a house there. Matters most if you're fully off-grid.
Legal: Lassen County scores 19 of 20, San Francisco County 13. Whether you can reach the land and live on it: road access, distance to emergency care, internet and cell, and how built up the area is, which decides how many lot-size, livestock, and zoning rules you will meet.

The state's soft spot

Buildability is California's weakest dimension, at 5 of 10 for the state as a whole. Slope, the septic the ground needs, footings, and the county's land price. A steep or soggy lot that fails a septic test is the dealbreaker photos hide. Getting a parcel here off-grid runs $35k to $134k by our estimates across these counties, before the house. The full California row in the Best States ranking has the state-wide spread and how the popular off-grid guides rank it.

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Before you buy in California

The scores read the physical land. Whether you may legally live on it is a separate question, and it changes at the county line: Is it legal to live off-grid in California? covers zoning, building code, septic, and wells for the state, with the counties that opt out. For the reason water carries a quarter of the score, how you get water on off-grid land is the read. And the five-point check is the order to do it in.

Major concernsCalifornia: 69 of 100, 45th of 50. A good state is not a good parcel. Score the one you are looking at, free, in about a minute.

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