The state of California has the second largest number of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) in the United States, behind Utah.The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints membership statistics (United States) The LDS Church is the second largest denomination in California, behind the Roman Catholic Church. Note: While it is the second largest denomination in California, it is the third largest denomination when "nondenominational" is considered as a denomination.
History
Brooklyn Saints
A Mormon immigrant company, under direction of Samuel Brannan, departed on the ship Brooklyn from New York on February 4, 1846, en route to the Salt Lake Valley via California. The ship navigated around Cape Horn and arrived at Yerba Buena on July 31, 1846. The company of around 230 people were the first known Latter-day Saints to set foot in California. Their numbers nearly tripled the population of the small town of Yerba Buena, later renamed San Francisco.
While there, Brannan and other church members began publication of one of California's first English-language newspapers, the California Star, in October 1846. One of the Brooklyn saints, Angeline Lovett, set up a school in the old Franciscan Dolores Mission, the first English-language school in California."'Every Book... Has Been Read Through'—The Brooklyn Saints and Harper's Family Library". Lorin K. Hansen.
During the early autumn of 1846, Brannan led 20 men to the San Joaquin Valley where they founded a Mormon farming colony named New Hope. It soon failed as heavy seasonal storms flooded the valley, destroying their crops. Most of the Brooklyn saints left California for Salt Lake City in 1848.
Mormon Battalion and California Gold Rush
In January 1847, the Mormon Battalion arrived in San Diego. Battalion members helped construct a number of building and public works in San Diego. They then traveled to Los Angeles where they built a fort and raised the first American flag in California. After being discharged in July 1847, the Battalion members broke into various groups, with some reenlisting and others going to work to earn provisions for the journey east to rejoin their families. Six discharged battalion members were at Sutter's Mill in northern California when gold was discovered there on January 24, 1848. On their way to Salt Lake City, they blazed the Mormon Emigrant Trail that would be used by thousands of westward bound travelers including the gold rush "Forty-Niners."The Discovery of Gold in California, John Sutter, Hutchings' California Magazine, November 1857: The Mormons did not like to leave my mill unfinished, but they got the gold fever like everybody else. After they had made their piles they left for the Great Salt Lake. So long as these people have been employed by me they hav[sic] behaved very well, and were industrious and faithful laborers, and when settling their accounts there was not one of them who was not contented and satisfied. Three of the former Battalion members were killed at a place known as Tragedy Spring while helping to forge the trail.
In February 1856, George Q. Cannon began publication in San Francisco of the Western Standard, a weekly periodical supportive of the church.
San Bernardino LDS colony Main: History of San Bernardino, California: Mormon San Bernardino
The first colonization from Utah to California came in 1851 when a company of about 450 saints and enslaved people under direction of Amasa M. Lyman and Charles C. Rich of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles settled at what is now San Bernardino. Initially Fort San Bernardino, the colony became the final settlement in a string of Mormon communities extending from Salt Lake City in an area known as Deseret. The community thrived, and on July 6, 1851, the San Bernardino Stake, California's first, was organized. The colony was dissolved by the church at the advance of Johnston's Army toward Salt Lake City in 1857. Brigham Young instructed the settlers to return to Utah to colonize. About 1,400 (fewer than half) returned to Utah at the request of the church. The San Bernardino Stake was dissolved in 1857 as well as the ecclesiastical units within the stake.
Significant church growth and history 1895-1990
The Los Angeles Branch was created on March 21, 1895."History of the California Los Angeles Mission" In 1896, the Northern California and Southern California conferences were organized. The Sacramento Conference was added in 1898."The Church in California". SacLDS.com (blog). November 3, 2005 Most missionary work around the turn of the century took place in larger population centers.
On January 21, 1923, the Los Angeles Stake became the first to be created in the state since the San Bernardino Stake had been dissolved. The Los Angeles Stake was divided on May 22, 1927 to form the Los Angeles and Hollywood stakes. On July 10, 1927, the San Francisco Stake was established.Deseret Morning News 2008 Church Almanac. p 196
On February 18, 1939, 1,400 people visited the church's exhibit at the opening day of the Golden Gate International Exposition in San Francisco. This exhibit was a visitors' center portraying a reduced-size Salt Lake Tabernacle.
Eight more stakes were created in the 1930s, five in the 1940s, and 30 in the 1950s. The completion of the Los Angeles and Oakland temples soon followed.
In 1980, church president Spencer W. Kimball spoke to members in the Los Angeles area in the Rose Bowl, with an estimated 75,000 in attendance.Robert A. Rees, "Record Number at Southern California Area Conference", Ensign, August 1980, pp. 72–74.
Recent history 1990-present
At the beginning of the year 2000, California had 17 missions, more than any other state in the United States. In the state's major cities, many minority converts were taught and baptized in their native language. With a significant immigration to California from Latin America, five Spanish-speaking stakes have been organized. Various Asian and Polynesian wards function as well, and a Tongan stake was created in San Francisco in 1992. There are currently more than 200 ethnic wards and branches in California.LDS Meetinghouse Locator - displays location of wards of with various languages
Church president Gordon B. Hinckley attended the rededication of the historic Hollywood (now Los Angeles California) Stake Center on June 8, 2003.
In 2024, a San Jose-based law firm would file 91 lawsuits against the LDS Church related to sex abuse allegations in California. In 2026, former Livermore LDS bishop Michael Morris was arrested and criminally charged with 18 counts of felony child sex abuse.
Historical reenactments
In July 1996, the sesquicentennial of the arrival of the ship Brooklyn was celebrated through reenactment of the event on a replica ship that sailed into the San Francisco Bay. Church members throughout the state commemorated the anniversary with observances that included an exhibit at the San Francisco Maritime Museum, performances of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir at the Davies Symphony Hall, dedications of plaques honoring the early settlers, and pioneer activities and parades.
In addition to commemorating the arrival of early Latter-day Saint settlers, as well as contributions to the development of the state, members throughout California donated many hours of service in community projects sponsored by wards and stakes, including gathering supplies and food for the needy; cleaning parks, beaches and roadways; painting and repairing homeless shelters, and cleaning up graffiti.
On January 18, 1997, 2,400 church members re-enacted the arrival of the Mormon Battalion in California 150 years earlier. Other Mormon Battalion celebrations along the coast followed on respective anniversaries. On March 6, 1997, Hinckley spoke to a record audience of the Los Angeles World Affairs Council, and on March 19, he addressed the World Forum of Silicon Valley. He also spoke at various church events during the year. A church-produced video depicting the discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill was donated to the state of California to be shown continuously at Marshall Gold Discovery State Park in Coloma.
Membership history
Membership growth has slowed in California since 1991 and began to decrease starting in the 2010s.
Year LDS Membership 1846 230 1920 3,800 1930 21,254 1940 44,800 1950 102,000 1960 217,600 1970 349,000 1980 541,000 1989 716,000 1999 740,000 2009 757,895 2019 756,507 2025 725,648
Disaster relief and humanitarian aid In times of disasters, such as earthquakes, fires, and floods, church members in California have donated countless hours of service, helping communities to recover.
In 1997, members in San Diego donated some 40-50 tons of food to eight community agencies for the homeless and needy.
In May 2003, hundreds of Los Angeles-area Muslims and members of the Pasadena California Stake joined in preparing emergency supplies for Iraqi families. With conflicts of the war with Iraq completed, a humanitarian aid day was set for May 10, 2003, where hygiene kits for some 10,000 families were completed and added to a $650,000 shipment of medical supplies and blankets donated by the church.
Moral issues Church members in the state have also taken leadership roles in moral issues, such as combating pornography and have cooperated with other congregations of various interfaith endeavors. Members have been active in other moral issues including abortion, gambling, drug and alcohol abuse, and marriage.Public Issues. LDS Newsroom. LDS stance on public and moral issues
County statistics
List of LDS Church adherents in each county as of 2010 according to the Association of Religion Data Archives: Note: Each county adherent count reflects meetinghouse location of congregation and not by location of residence. Census count reflects location of residence which may skew percent of population in locations where adherents reside in a different county as their congregational meetinghouse.
County Congregations Adherents % of Population Alameda 46 24,929 1.65 Alpine 0 Amador 2 1,196 3.14 Butte 16 9,357 4.25 Calaveras 3 1,597 3.50 Colusa 1 372 1.74 Contra Costa 42 21,505 2.05 Del Norte 2 1,213 4.24 El Dorado 15 7,030 3.88 Fresno 36 21,404 2.30 Glenn 3 820 2.92 Humboldt 7 3,557 2.64 Imperial 5 3,149 1.80 Inyo 5 4,827 26.03 Kern 38 21,095 2.51 Kings 5 2,362 1.54 Lake 5 2,294 3.55 Lassen 3 1,341 3.84 Los Angeles 226 150,569 1.53 Madera 5 3,355 2.22 Marin 4 2,468 0.98 Mariposa 1 392 2.15 Mendocino 4 2,335 2.66 Merced 10 4,448 1.74 Modoc 2 344 3.55 Mono 2 337 2.37 Monterey 10 5,906 1.42 Napa 6 2,209 1.62 Nevada 3 1,683 1.70 Orange 121 66,772 2.22 Placer 33 15,179 4.36 Plumas 3 755 3.77 Riverside 96 51,957 2.37 Sacramento 77 44,951 3.17 San Benito 3 1,151 2.08 San Bernardino 103 52,314 2.57 San Diego 120 71,495 2.31 San Francisco 5 5,923 0.74 San Joaquin 24 15,653 2.28 San Luis Obispo 12 6,216 2.31 San Mateo 21 13,240 1.84 Santa Barbara 14 7,241 1.71 Santa Clara 45 24,739 1.39 Santa Cruz 6 3,709 1.41 Shasta 11 6,843 3.86 Sierra 1 101 3.12 Siskiyou 5 1,629 3.63 Solano 21 10,313 2.50 Sonoma 17 9,069 1.87 Stanislaus 31 13,859 2.69 Sutter 7 3,135 3.31 Tehama 3 2,078 3.27 Tuolumne 3 1,425 2.57 Trinity 2 385 2.79 Tulare 15 7,740 1.75 Ventura 44 20,123 2.44 Yolo 9 4,839 2.41 Yuba 5 3,096 4.29
Stakes As of July 2026, California had the following Stakes: