List of incorporated cities and towns in California

There are 481 incorporated cities and towns in California, of which 459 are called cities and 22 are called towns. Under California law, the terms "city" and "town" are explicitly interchangeable (see, e.g., Government Code Sections 34500-34504); so, the name of a municipal corporation can either be "City of (Name)" or "Town of (Name)" regardless of its population. The term "township" is obsolete; the terms "village" and "borough" have never been used.

Only currently incorporated places are listed. Many ghost towns and other previously incorporated cities and towns ceased to be separately incorporated upon their amalgamation to another city or town; for instance, Willow Glen in 1936 and Alviso in 1968 were consolidated into San Jose. To date, Cabazon is the only California municipality to dissolve (or "un-incorporate") itself. It did so in 1975, after only 20 years as a city, due to a weak economy.

Population data is based on results of the 2010 United States Census.