Texas vs California Size: How Much Bigger Is Texas?

By Marko Visic · Updated Nov 11, 2026

Texas has 261,232 sq mi of land and California 155,779 sq mi, so Texas is 1.68× California by land area (1.64× counting water). California has 1.24× as many people, 39.4 million against 31.7 million on July 1, 2025, and its 2025 GDP was 1.47× that of Texas.

California drawn over the center of Texas to scale, both in the US Albers equal-area projection; at this placement part of California's outline extends past the Texas border. Texas has 105,453 sq mi more land, room for 0.68 of another California (Census 2010 land area).

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Texas vs California by the numbers

Metric	Texas	California	Ratio
Land area (sq mi)	261,232	155,779	Texas 1.68×
Total area, land and water (sq mi)	268,596	163,695	Texas 1.64×
Water area (sq mi)	7,365	7,916	California 1.07×
Population (July 1, 2025)	31,709,821	39,355,309	California 1.24×
Population change, July 2024 to July 2025	+391,243	−9,465
People per sq mi of land	121.4	252.6	California 2.08×
Metro areas of 1 million or more (2025)	4, 21.8 million people	7, 31.2 million people
GDP, current US$ (2025)	$2.93T	$4.30T	California 1.47×
GDP per person (2025)	$92,474	$109,196	California 1.18×
General coastline (mi, NOAA 1975)	367	840	California 2.29×
Tidal shoreline (mi, NOAA)	3,359	3,427	California 1.02×
Highest point	Guadalupe Peak, 8,751 ft	Mount Whitney, 14,505 ft	California 1.66×
Counties	254	58	Texas 4.4×
National parks	2	9	California 4.5×
Standard time zones	2 (Central, Mountain)	1 (Pacific)
Rank among the 50 states: land area	2nd	3rd
Rank among the 50 states: population	2nd	1st
Rank among the 50 states: GDP	2nd	1st
Statehood	Dec. 29, 1845 (28th)	Sept. 9, 1850 (31st)

Ratios divide the larger figure by the smaller. Density and GDP per person use the July 1, 2025 population.

How much bigger is Texas than California?

Texas has 261,232 sq mi (676,587 km²) of land and California 155,779 sq mi (403,466 km²), so Texas is 1.68 times California by land area, larger by 105,453 sq mi. That difference is a little more than the land area of Colorado (103,642 sq mi), and it would hold 0.68 of another California.

On the Census Bureau's totals, which add water, Texas is 1.64 times California: 268,596 against 163,695 sq mi. The ratio is lower because California has more water, 7,916 sq mi against 7,365, and 4,837 sq mi of California's is territorial sea. Most of the Texas water, 5,616 sq mi, is inland.

Texas and California rank 2nd and 3rd among the states by land area, after Alaska. Together they hold 11.8% of US land, 20.8% of its people and 23.4% of its 2025 GDP.

Population: California has 1.24× as many people

California had 39,355,309 residents on July 1, 2025, and Texas 31,709,821, according to the Census Bureau's Vintage 2025 estimates. California has 1.24 times as many people on 60% of the land. In the year to July 1, 2025, Texas gained 391,243 residents and California lost 9,465.

Per square mile of land, California has 252.6 people, 11th among the 50 states, and Texas 121.4, 22nd. California is 2.08 times as densely populated.

The Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim metro area had 12,844,441 people in 2025, more than any metro area in Texas; the largest there, Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, had 8,477,157. Texas's four metro areas of a million or more (Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Austin) together had 21,815,869 people, more than the Los Angeles area. California has seven such metro areas, with 31,190,867 people combined.

Economy: California's GDP is 1.47× Texas's

The Bureau of Economic Analysis puts California's 2025 GDP at $4.30 trillion and Texas's at $2.93 trillion in current dollars, the two largest of any state. California's economy was 1.47 times as large, and its GDP per person $109,196 against $92,474 in Texas.

Set beside countries' GDP for 2025 in the IMF's World Economic Outlook (October 2026), California's total would rank 5th, after the United States, China, Germany and Japan, and Texas's 8th, after those four and the United Kingdom, India and France. The comparison sets BEA figures for the states beside IMF figures for countries, both in current US dollars.

Drawn to scale: Texas next to California

Here the two states are drawn side by side at the same area per pixel, both in the US Albers equal-area projection.

Texas and California in the US Albers equal-area projection (standard parallels 29.5°N and 45.5°N), drawn to scale.

Coastline: California has 2.29× the general coastline

NOAA's general coastline, published in 1975, gives California 840 miles and Texas 367, 2.29 times as much.

NOAA's tidal shoreline also counts offshore islands, sounds, bays, rivers and creeks up to the head of tidewater, and on that measure the two states are close: California has 3,427 miles and Texas 3,359, a ratio of 1.02.

Both states were once part of Mexico

Texas declared itself an independent republic on March 2, 1836, and became the 28th state on December 29, 1845. The United States gained California from Mexico in the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, part of the Mexican Cession of 529,017 sq mi of land and water in the Census Bureau's historical tables. California became the 31st state on September 9, 1850, under the Compromise of 1850, which also settled the northern and northwestern borders of Texas: Texas gave up its claims to land farther west in return for $10 million in federal stock.

Methodology and sources

Area: US Census Bureau, State Area Measurements and Internal Point Coordinates (2010): land, total and water area for both states. The total includes inland, coastal and territorial water; glaciers, marshes and intermittent water count as land. Ranks are among the 50 states.
Population and density: US Census Bureau, Vintage 2025 population estimates (July 1, 2025), including the change from July 1, 2024; metro areas from US Census Bureau, Vintage 2025 metropolitan area population estimates. Density divides the July 1, 2025 population by Census 2010 land area.
GDP: States: US Bureau of Economic Analysis, GDP by state (2025, current dollars). Countries: IMF World Economic Outlook (October 2026), GDP in current US dollars (2025). GDP per person divides the state figures by the July 1, 2025 population.
Coastline: NOAA, The Coastline of the United States (1975): general coastline by state, as reprinted in Congressional Research Service report RS21729 and NOAA Office for Coastal Management, Shoreline Mileage of the United States (tidal shoreline), never mixed in one ratio.
Highest and lowest points: National Park Service, Sequoia & Kings Canyon: Seeing and Climbing Mt. Whitney, National Park Service, Guadalupe Mountains National Park: Hike Guadalupe Peak and National Park Service, Death Valley National Park, checked November 11, 2026. Meters are converted from feet where the source gives feet only.
Counties, national parks, time zones, interstates: US Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer Files: counties; National Park Service, parks in Texas and National Park Service, parks in California (units designated national parks, checked November 11, 2026); Code of Federal Regulations, 49 CFR Part 71, Standard Time Zone Boundaries (§§ 71.7, 71.9 and 71.10); Federal Highway Administration, Route Log and Finder List, Table 1: Main Routes (January 2026).
History: Admission dates and order: US Senate, States in the Senate: Texas and US Senate, States in the Senate: California. Independence on March 2, 1836: Texas State Library and Archives Commission, Texas Declaration of Independence. California in the 1848 treaty: Texas State Library and Archives Commission, Hard Road to Texas: Aftermath. The 1850 settlement of the Texas borders: Texas State Library and Archives Commission, What were the boundaries of the Republic of Texas? and National Archives, Milestone Documents: Compromise of 1850 (the act's text, with California's admission act). Area of the Mexican Cession: US Census Bureau, Historical Statistics of the United States, Colonial Times to 1970, Series J 1-2 (territorial expansion; areas determined in 1912 and adjusted to the 1960 remeasurements).
Drawings: Outlines: us-atlas (US Census Bureau cartographic boundaries) and world-atlas (Natural Earth 1:50m) for the drawings. Both maps are drawn to scale in equal-area projections, scaled with the Census 2010 land areas.

Frequently asked questions

Yes. Texas has 261,232 sq mi of land and California 155,779 sq mi, so Texas is 1.68 times California by land area (US Census Bureau, 2010). On total area, which adds water, Texas is 1.64 times California: 268,596 against 163,695 sq mi.

Texas has 105,453 sq mi more land than California, a little more than the land area of Colorado (103,642 sq mi). In ratio terms Texas is 1.68 times California by land area.

By area, yes. Texas's land would hold all of California's 155,779 sq mi with 105,453 sq mi to spare, room for 0.68 of another California. The map at the top of this page draws California over the center of Texas to scale; placed there, part of California's outline extends past the Texas border because the two shapes differ.

California: 39,355,309 residents on July 1, 2025, against 31,709,821 in Texas (Census Bureau, Vintage 2025), 1.24 times as many. In the year to July 1, 2025, Texas grew by 391,243 people and California shrank by 9,465.

California, with 252.6 people per square mile of land against 121.4 in Texas, 2.08 times as dense. California ranks 11th among the 50 states by density and Texas 22nd.

California. Its 2025 GDP was $4.30 trillion and Texas's $2.93 trillion in current dollars (Bureau of Economic Analysis), 1.47 times as much. Set against the IMF's 2025 figures for countries, California would rank 5th in the world and Texas 8th.

California. NOAA's general coastline (1975) gives California 840 miles (1,352 km) and Texas 367 miles (591 km), 2.29 times as much. NOAA's tidal shoreline, which also counts islands, bays and rivers up to the head of tidewater, gives 3,427 and 3,359 miles, nearly the same.

California. Mount Whitney rises to 14,505 ft (4,421 m), the highest in the 48 contiguous states, and Guadalupe Peak, the highest point in Texas, to 8,751 ft (2,667 m), 60% of Whitney's height (National Park Service). California also has the lowest point in North America, Badwater Basin in Death Valley, 282 ft (86 m) below sea level.

Texas has 254, more than any other state, and California 58, according to the Census Bureau's 2025 Gazetteer. Texas has 4.4 times as many counties on 1.68 times the land.

California, with 9: Channel Islands, Death Valley, Joshua Tree, Kings Canyon, Lassen Volcanic, Pinnacles, Redwood, Sequoia and Yosemite. Texas has 2, Big Bend and Guadalupe Mountains. The counts are the units designated national parks on the National Park Service's state pages.

Texas became the 28th state on December 29, 1845, and California the 31st on September 9, 1850 (US Senate). Texas had declared itself an independent republic on March 2, 1836; California was admitted under the Compromise of 1850.

Interstate 10 runs 879 miles (1,414 km) through Texas, and Interstate 5 runs 797 miles (1,282 km) through California, according to the Federal Highway Administration's route log (January 2026).

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Suggested citation: SimpleMapLab (2026). Texas vs California Size: How Much Bigger Is Texas? Retrieved from https://www.simplemaplab.com/size-comparisons/texas-vs-california. CC-BY 4.0.