These Are The 10 Best Places In California To Catch Pokemon


These are the cities and towns in California where you have the best chance to catch ’em all, based on the data of where Pokemon are traditionally found.

By: Nick Johnson | About HomeSnacks
Last Updated: July 16, 2016

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So, you want to catch ’em all, huh?
Pokemon Go has swept the nation, and the app has broken records for the most downloads in the first week of release. All over the country, people are swarming, gathering, and all around going nuts, playing this interactive game.
Since we’re a data analytics website, and because we’re often cited as the ‘go to’ place for regional infotainment, we thought it was our duty to be as helpful as we can for people in California who want to have the inside scoop as to where they should go if they want to dominate this addicting game.
After analyzing every place in California, here is our list of the best places to catch Pokemon in the Golden State:

  1. Villa Park (Photos)
  2. Sausalito (Photos)
  3. Woodside (Photos)
  4. La Habra Heights
  5. Rolling Hills Estates (Photos)
  6. Tiburon (Photos)
  7. Atherton (Photos)
  8. Loomis
  9. Emeryville (Photos)
  10. Indian Wells (Photos)

As you might note, these are all smaller suburbs of major cities in California. That’s because in smaller cities, there are a higher number of places per capita where Pokemon are traditionally found. Meaning you’ll find more Pokemon in a much smaller area. When you read the analysis below, this will all make sense. Trust us.
So, grab your avatars, cell phones, and your Poke Balls as we uncover the truly best places in California in which to find the most Pokemon, based on data.
For more California reading , check out:

How do you decide where the best place is to catch Pokemon?

In order to rank the best places in California in which to catch ’em all, we had to determine which cities, towns and villages in California have the most places to find Pokemon.
So we scraped the internet for those criteria, and it spit out the answer. Like magic.

10 Cheapest Places To Live In California

How we crunched the numbers

We threw a lot of criteria at this one in order to get the best, most complete results possible. Using Google Maps, this is the criteria we used:

  • Number of parks per capita
  • Number of museums per capita
  • Number of churches per capita
  • Number of memorials and public gathering places per capita

If you’d like to see the complete list of cities, scroll to the bottom of this post to see a chart of the top cities.
Note: When measuring the locations listed above, we measured the locations within a short drive of the center of each place in California.

1. Villa Park

Villa Park, California

Source: Wikipedia User Jeaniac | CC BY-SA 3.0

Population: 5,911
Parks Per 1,000 People: 10.15
Museums Per 1,000 People: 4.4
Churches Per 1,000 People: 10.15
Public Gathering Places Per 1,000 People: 4.57

2. Sausalito

Sausalito, California

Source: Public domain

Population: 7,043
Parks Per 1,000 People: 8.52
Museums Per 1,000 People: 5.68
Churches Per 1,000 People: 8.52
Public Gathering Places Per 1,000 People: 4.83

3. Woodside

Woodside, California

Source: Wikipedia User Users Jawed, Ja | GFDL

Population: 5,427
Parks Per 1,000 People: 11.06
Museums Per 1,000 People: 2.58
Churches Per 1,000 People: 11.06
Public Gathering Places Per 1,000 People: 3.87

4. La Habra Heights


Population: 5,398
Parks Per 1,000 People: 11.12
Museums Per 1,000 People: 2.22
Churches Per 1,000 People: 11.12
Public Gathering Places Per 1,000 People: 2.96

5. Rolling Hills Estates

Rolling Hills Estates, California

Source: Wikipedia User Clotee Allochuk | CC BY 2.0

Population: 8,184
Parks Per 1,000 People: 7.33
Museums Per 1,000 People: 3.67
Churches Per 1,000 People: 7.33
Public Gathering Places Per 1,000 People: 5.99

6. Tiburon

Tiburon, California

Source: Public domain

Population: 9,100
Parks Per 1,000 People: 6.59
Museums Per 1,000 People: 4.4
Churches Per 1,000 People: 6.48
Public Gathering Places Per 1,000 People: 4.18

7. Atherton

Atherton, California

Source: Public domain

Population: 7,034
Parks Per 1,000 People: 8.53
Museums Per 1,000 People: 2.99
Churches Per 1,000 People: 8.53
Public Gathering Places Per 1,000 People: 2.42

8. Loomis


Population: 6,589
Parks Per 1,000 People: 9.11
Museums Per 1,000 People: 3.04
Churches Per 1,000 People: 9.11
Public Gathering Places Per 1,000 People: 1.97

9. Emeryville

Emeryville, California

Source: Wikipedia User | CC BY-SA 2.5

Population: 10,497
Parks Per 1,000 People: 5.72
Museums Per 1,000 People: 5.72
Churches Per 1,000 People: 5.72
Public Gathering Places Per 1,000 People: 3.91

10. Indian Wells

Indian Wells, California

Source: Wikipedia User Patrick Pelster | CC BY-SA 3.0

Population: 5,089
Parks Per 1,000 People: 11.79
Museums Per 1,000 People: 1.77
Churches Per 1,000 People: 11.79
Public Gathering Places Per 1,000 People: 1.57

There You Have It

If you’re looking at communities in California where you have a much higher chance of catching Pokemon, this is an accurate list.
If you’re also curious enough, here’s how the larger cities in California with the most reliable locations to catch a Pokemon rank, according to science.

  1. Long Beach (Photos)
  2. Oakland (Photos)
  3. Anaheim (Photos)
  4. San Diego (Photos)
  5. Sacramento (Photos)

For more California reading, check out:

Detailed List Of The Best Places In California To Catch Pokemon

Rank City Population
1 Villa Park 5,911
2 Sausalito 7,043
3 Woodside 5,427
4 La Habra Heights 5,398
5 Rolling Hills Estates 8,184
6 Tiburon 9,100
7 Atherton 7,034
8 Loomis 6,589
9 Emeryville 10,497
10 Indian Wells 5,089
11 Signal Hill 11,245
12 Corte Madera 9,478
13 Piedmont 10,957
14 Fowler 5,908
15 Hughson 6,895
16 Los Alamitos 11,598
17 Calistoga 5,244
18 Commerce 12,975
19 Los Altos Hills 8,244
20 Grand Terrace 12,252
21 Mill Valley 14,178
22 Sebastopol 7,535
23 Escalon 7,252
24 Cotati 7,347
25 Hawaiian Gardens 14,432
26 Hillsborough 11,148
27 La Palma 15,791
28 Fairfax 7,546
29 Palos Verdes Estates 13,568
30 San Marino 13,294
31 Sierra Madre 11,060
32 Calimesa 8,143
33 Moraga 16,549
34 El Segundo 16,839
35 Guadalupe 7,160
36 Clayton 11,328
37 Albany 19,020
38 Pismo Beach 7,789
39 Orinda 18,390
40 Santa Fe Springs 16,859
41 Laguna Woods 16,302
42 Lomita 20,539
43 Artesia 16,698
44 Canyon Lake 10,810
45 Larkspur 12,131
46 Capitola 10,043
47 Cudahy 24,073
48 Solana Beach 13,146
49 South El Monte 20,375
50 Shasta Lake 10,143
51 El Cerrito 24,136
52 Marysville 12,144
53 Hermosa Beach 19,725
54 Pinole 18,754
55 Coronado 24,333
56 Pacific Grove 15,365
57 Lemon Grove 25,963
58 South Pasadena 25,914
59 Scotts Valley 11,711
60 Maywood 27,703
61 Ripon 14,645
62 Grass Valley 12,861
63 Farmersville 10,675
64 Livingston 13,461
65 San Anselmo 12,527
66 Lafayette 24,685
67 Half Moon Bay 11,803
68 Anderson 10,066
69 Loma Linda 23,648
70 Seal Beach 24,477
71 Sonoma 10,818
72 Laguna Beach 23,114
73 Orange Cove 9,473
74 Port Hueneme 21,949
75 Fort Bragg 7,274
76 Millbrae 22,177
77 Gridley 6,566
78 West Hollywood 35,053
79 Kingsburg 11,582
80 Oroville 16,015
81 San Fernando 24,050
82 St. Helena 5,895
83 Beverly Hills 34,536
84 Belmont 26,503
85 Rancho Mirage 17,634
86 Lawndale 33,155
87 Agoura Hills 20,630
88 Bell 35,896
89 Exeter 10,468
90 Riverbank 23,310
91 Oakdale 21,260
92 Auburn 13,690
93 Solvang 5,345
94 Walnut 29,822
95 Saratoga 30,627
96 Fillmore 15,203
97 Healdsburg 11,466
98 San Pablo 29,516
99 Ione 7,318
100 San Carlos 29,166
About Nick Johnson

Nick Johnson earned his masters in Business Administration from the Drucker School At Claremont Graduate University. He has written for 39 publications across the country and ran the media relations department at Movoto, a real estate portal based in San Francisco. He has been featured in over 500 publications as an expert in real estate and as an authority on real estate trends.

Nick's the creator of the HomeSnacks YouTube channel that now has over 900,000 subscribers and is an excellent source to learn about different parts of the country.

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