California Mobile Home Market Data: Census Counts, Owners and Renters

How many mobile homes are in California

The U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey counts about 515,402 mobile homes in California (margin of error ±5,664), which is 3.5% of all housing units in the state. That ranks California 4th of the 50 states by number of mobile homes, and it is 6.4% of the roughly 8,095,000 mobile homes in the 50 states.

This count covers every mobile home in the state, whether it sits in a park, on the owner's own land or on family land. It is not a count of parks or lots.

Live in a park? Tenant login

Owners and renters

Of the occupied mobile homes in California, about 329,757 are lived in by their owners and about 121,653 are rented. The remaining 63,992 or so are vacant, including seasonal homes.

In a mobile home park, an owner-occupied home is the classic lot-rent tenancy: the resident owns the home and rents the land under it. Rented homes include park-owned homes leased together with the lot.

Why this page has no park count or average lot rent

No federal survey publishes the number of mobile home parks, the number of lots or the average lot rent by state. Earlier versions of this page showed estimates for those figures. We removed them because they could not be traced to a published source.

To price lot rent in California, survey the parks that compete with yours in the same submarket, and check the rent-control guide for any limit on increases.

Lot-rent rules in California

California limits lot-rent increases statewide. The California rent-control guide explains how the limit works and which parks it covers.

Governing statute: Mobilehome Residency Law (MRL).

California at a glance

• Mobile homes
  515,402 (±5,664)
• Share of housing
  3.5%
• Rank among the 50 states
  4th
• Owner-occupied
  329,757
• Renter-occupied
  121,653
• Source
  U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2019-2023 5-year estimates, tables B25024 and B25032