California ranks #1 among US states for total patents filed in 2025, with 138,520 patents from 55,090 inventors across 732 cities. On a per-capita basis that is 3.5 patents per 1,000 residents, a standard benchmark for comparing state-level R&D intensity.
Top Cities in California 2025
| Rank | City | Patents | Inventors |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | San Diego, CA | 17,339 | 3,991 |
| #2 | San Francisco, CA | 15,679 | 5,778 |
| #3 | San Jose, CA | 14,669 | 5,639 |
| #4 | Sunnyvale, CA | 5,736 | 2,340 |
| #5 | Mountain View, CA | 4,658 | 2,056 |
| #6 | Santa Clara, CA | 4,484 | 1,910 |
| #7 | Palo Alto, CA | 4,255 | 1,602 |
| #8 | Los Angeles, CA | 3,596 | 1,677 |
| #9 | Fremont, CA | 3,472 | 1,546 |
| #10 | Cupertino, CA | 3,415 | 1,125 |
| #11 | Irvine, CA | 2,058 | 1,010 |
| #12 | Redwood City, CA | 1,775 | 810 |
| #13 | San Mateo, CA | 1,736 | 804 |
| #14 | Saratoga, CA | 1,703 | 487 |
| #15 | Los Gatos, CA | 1,611 | 510 |
| #16 | Oakland, CA | 1,598 | 806 |
| #17 | Los Altos, CA | 1,473 | 608 |
| #18 | Pleasanton, CA | 1,374 | 586 |
| #19 | Menlo Park, CA | 1,277 | 569 |
| #20 | Santa Monica, CA | 1,230 | 477 |
| #21 | Berkeley, CA | 1,201 | 589 |
| #22 | Carlsbad, CA | 1,194 | 475 |
| #23 | Campbell, CA | 1,183 | 421 |
| #24 | Milpitas, CA | 1,175 | 555 |
| #25 | San Ramon, CA | 1,047 | 430 |