Chico, CA Metro Area
The Chico, CA metro area is one county in California: Butte County. About 209,211 people lived there on July 1, 2025 (Census estimate), 1.1% fewer than in April 2020.
- Population, July 2025
- 209,211 1.1% fewer than in April 2020
- Type
- Metropolitan statistical area
- County
- Butte County
- Land area
- 1,637 sq mi (4,239 km²)
- Time zone
- Pacific TimeUTC-08:00 in January; UTC-07:00 in July
- State
- California
- CBSA code
- 17020
The county in the Chico, CA metro area
| County | Role | Population, July 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Butte County | Central | 209,211 |
A central county holds the area’s core, an urban area of at least 50,000 people. This area has no outlying counties: no neighboring county sends enough commuters to join it. A county belongs to one metro or micro area at most, and it counts whole, countryside included.
Principal city
- Chico102,188 people
OMB names the area after its largest principal cities. A principal city is the area’s largest city, plus any other city that is very large or a big job center, and smaller ones with at least as many jobs as working residents (2020 Census and commuting figures). People counts are American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year estimates.
Bordering metro and micro areas, nearest first
Areas with a county on this area’s edge. Distances are straight lines between the areas’ largest cities.
- Red Bluff, CA Micro Area36 mi northwest
- Yuba City, CA Metro Area44 mi south
Before using this answer on a form
A metro or micro area is a statistical area that OMB draws for federal statistics. It is not a city, a local government or a mailing address, and it is not a measure of urban and rural: whole counties count, rural parts included. Programs that use metro areas, such as housing income limits or wage rates, can use their own version of these lists; check the program’s own list for an address.
Find the metro area where you are now, find your county, or see every metro and micro area by population.