Saturation ranking
Where funeral homes & services is most and least saturated in California
Every California market with sourced Funeral Homes data, ranked on how much provision it already has. Counties are measured per 10,000 residents. Cities are measured as a share of the businesses in the same ZIP codes, because a city’s establishment counts cover its ZIP codes rather than its city limits and cannot be divided by its municipal population. Neither measure says anything about revenue or profitability, and a crowded market is not automatically a bad one: it is also where the most businesses come up for sale.
- Statewide establishments
- 794
- 2023 County Business Patterns
- State median density
- 0.2
- Per 10,000 residents, counties
- Counties ranked
- 30
- of 37 with data
- Cities ranked
- 14
- of 54 with data
Most saturated counties for funeral homes
30 of 37 counties with sourced data qualify for this ranking. Markets with fewer than 5 establishments are excluded at both levels, because a single opening or closing would move them enough to dominate the list. Counties under 2,000 residents are also excluded, where a per-capita figure is arithmetically true and analytically useless.
| # | County | Establishments | Per 10k | Vs state median | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Butte County209,211 residents | 10 | 0.5 | +94% | Densely served |
| 2 | Solano County455,376 residents | 19 | 0.4 | +69% | Densely served |
| 3 | San Luis Obispo County282,367 residents | 11 | 0.4 | +58% | Densely served |
| 4 | Shasta County181,648 residents | 7 | 0.4 | +56% | Densely served |
| 5 | Madera County167,927 residents | 6 | 0.4 | +45% | Above average |
| 6 | Tulare County485,146 residents | 15 | 0.3 | +25% | Above average |
| 7 | Stanislaus County557,719 residents | 16 | 0.3 | +16% | Above average |
| 8 | Kern County927,068 residents | 26 | 0.3 | +14% | Typical |
| 9 | Fresno County1,035,456 residents | 29 | 0.3 | +14% | Typical |
| 10 | Ventura County830,851 residents | 23 | 0.3 | +12% | Typical |
| 11 | Imperial County181,411 residents | 5 | 0.3 | +12% | Typical |
| 12 | Merced County297,260 residents | 8 | 0.3 | +9% | Typical |
| 13 | Placer County442,081 residents | 11 | 0.2 | +1% | Typical |
| 14 | Sonoma County486,444 residents | 12 | 0.2 | 0% | Typical |
| 15 | San Joaquin County823,815 residents | 20 | 0.2 | -2% | Typical |
State median for this industry: 0.2 establishments per 10,000 residents. A high figure means more provision per resident, not more demand.
Least saturated counties for funeral homes
The same 30 counties, read from the bottom of the ordering upward. Thin provision is worth checking against the neighbouring counties before treating it as an opening.
| # | County | Establishments | Per 10k | Vs state median | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Francisco County826,079 residents | 9 | 0.1 | -56% | Thinly served |
| 2 | San Mateo County743,568 residents | 12 | 0.2 | -35% | Below average |
| 3 | Orange County3,149,507 residents | 52 | 0.2 | -33% | Below average |
| 4 | Los Angeles County9,694,934 residents | 161 | 0.2 | -33% | Below average |
| 5 | Santa Clara County1,914,391 residents | 32 | 0.2 | -32% | Below average |
| 6 | San Bernardino County2,224,091 residents | 38 | 0.2 | -31% | Below average |
| 7 | Riverside County2,544,916 residents | 44 | 0.2 | -30% | Below average |
| 8 | San Diego County3,282,248 residents | 60 | 0.2 | -26% | Below average |
| 9 | Alameda County1,636,630 residents | 32 | 0.2 | -21% | Below average |
| 10 | Contra Costa County1,170,070 residents | 24 | 0.2 | -17% | Below average |
| 11 | Sacramento County1,618,460 residents | 36 | 0.2 | -10% | Typical |
| 12 | Yolo County224,410 residents | 5 | 0.2 | -10% | Typical |
| 13 | Santa Barbara County442,065 residents | 10 | 0.2 | -8% | Typical |
| 14 | Monterey County433,729 residents | 10 | 0.2 | -7% | Typical |
| 15 | Santa Cruz County258,852 residents | 6 | 0.2 | -6% | Typical |
State median for this industry: 0.2 establishments per 10,000 residents. A low figure can mean a genuine gap, or a market served from the next county over.
Most saturated cities for funeral homes
14 of 54 cities with sourced data qualify for this ranking. Markets with fewer than 5 establishments are excluded at both levels, because a single opening or closing would move them enough to dominate the list. Cities with fewer than 500 businesses in total are also excluded, because on a base that small the industry’s share moves on rounding.
| # | City | Establishments | Share of local | Vs state share | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Daly CitySan Mateo, 1,538 businesses in total | 6 | 0.39% | +1491% | Densely served |
| 2 | VallejoSolano, 1,732 businesses in total | 5 | 0.29% | +1077% | Densely served |
| 3 | WestminsterOrange, 2,112 businesses in total | 6 | 0.28% | +1059% | Densely served |
| 4 | VisaliaTulare, 3,364 businesses in total | 7 | 0.21% | +749% | Densely served |
| 5 | RedlandsSan Bernardino, 2,509 businesses in total | 5 | 0.20% | +713% | Densely served |
| 6 | San BernardinoSan Bernardino, 3,569 businesses in total | 6 | 0.17% | +586% | Densely served |
| 7 | WhittierLos Angeles, 3,060 businesses in total | 5 | 0.16% | +566% | Densely served |
| 8 | FresnoFresno, 13,153 businesses in total | 13 | 0.10% | +303% | Densely served |
| 9 | BakersfieldKern, 10,791 businesses in total | 10 | 0.09% | +278% | Densely served |
| 10 | San JoseSanta Clara, 21,501 businesses in total | 13 | 0.06% | +147% | Densely served |
| 11 | SacramentoSacramento, 19,687 businesses in total | 9 | 0.05% | +86% | Densely served |
| 12 | San DiegoSan Diego, 42,106 businesses in total | 9 | 0.02% | -13% | Typical |
| 13 | San FranciscoSan Francisco, 33,575 businesses in total | 6 | 0.02% | -27% | Below average |
| 14 | Los AngelesLos Angeles, 77,828 businesses in total | 9 | 0.01% | -53% | Thinly served |
Statewide, 0.02% of California businesses are in this industry. A higher local share means the industry takes up more of the local business base than it does statewide.
City figures are aggregated over the ZIP codes the Postal Service assigns to each place, which do not follow municipal boundaries. That is why the comparison here is a share of the businesses in those same ZIP codes rather than a figure per resident: both sides then cover the same ground, so a city that loses establishments to a separately named ZIP loses its denominator with them.
How to read these rankings
- Both measures are supply measures. They say nothing about how much each business earns, how large it is, or how much demand comes from outside the market.
- The two levels are not directly comparable to each other. A county figure is establishments per resident; a city figure is this industry’s share of the local business base against the statewide share. Compare counties to counties and cities to cities.
- A thinly served market can be a genuine gap or a market already served from a neighbouring town. The individual market pages list the nearest comparable places for exactly this check.
- A densely served market means competition, but it is also where the largest pool of existing businesses sits, and therefore where the most owners reach retirement each year.
- Counties are the more stable measure. City figures rest on ZIP code geography, which the Postal Service redraws as it pleases, so a city can gain or lose a ZIP between years.
Full funeral homes data for California/All industry rankings/Methodology
Sources
- U.S. Census Bureau, 2023 County Business Patterns. Establishment counts, employment and annual payroll by NAICS. Retrieved 2026-09-08.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (2026Q1). Quarterly establishment counts and employment for employers covered by unemployment insurance. Retrieved 2026-09-08.
- U.S. Census Bureau, 2023 ZIP Code Business Patterns. Establishment counts by ZIP code and NAICS, aggregated over the ZIP codes assigned to each city, including the all-industry totals used as the local business base. Retrieved 2026-09-10.