California Urban Canopy Data

Population Density

This map shows the population density—expressed as persons per square mile—from the 2020 Census at the state, county, and census tract levels.

Household Income

Community Survey (ACS) is an ongoing survey that provides data every year on economic and demographic characteristics of the U.S. population. The ACS 5-year estimates are available for metropolitan statistical areas, counties, places (i.e., towns or cities), ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, census tracts, and block groups.

Asthma Incidence

The number of asthma emergency department visits per 10,000 people for the years 2015-2017. The California Department of Health Care Access and Information collects information on emergency department visits and hospitalizations from different causes in California. Asthma emergency department data are currently the best available way of describing differences in asthma across the state at the census tract scale.

Cardiovascular Disease Incidence

The number of heart attack emergency department visits per 10,000 people for the years 2015-2017. The Department of Health Care Access and Information collects information on emergency department visits and hospitalizations from different causes in California.

PM2.5 Pollution

Particulate matter, or PM2.5, is very small particles in air that are 2.5 micrometers (about 1 ten-thousandth of an inch) or less in diameter. Quarterly means extracted from the air monitors for 2015-2017 and a mean was calculated by averaging across the three years.

Ozone Pollution

The daily maximum 8-hour ozone concentrations extracted from the air monitors for 2017-2019. Mean of summer months (May-October) of the daily maximum 8-hour ozone concentration (ppm), was calculated by averaging over three years (2017 to 2019). A spatial model was created with the air monitoring data to estimate ozone concentrations for each census tract within 50 km of an air monitoring station. For census tracts further than 50 km of an air monitor, the ozone value of the nearest monitor was used.

Wildland Urban Interface 2020

The Wildland Urban Interface is the area where houses meet or intermingle with undeveloped wildland vegetation. This shows a focal area for human-environment conflicts such as wildland fires, habitat fragmentation, invasive species, and biodiversity decline.

Classes are all polygons with <= 50% wildland vegetation in 2020 and minimum 6.177635 housing units / square km and within 2.414 km of area with >= 75% wildland vegetation.

Wildland Urban Intermix

This zone is an area where human habitation is mixed with areas of flammable wildland vegetation. It extends out from the edge of developed private land into Federal, private, and State jurisdictions.

Classes are all polygons with > 50% wildland vegetation in 2020 and minimum 6.177635 housing units / square km.

Urban Heat Island Severity 2023

This map shows urban heat islands in California as measured by the Urban Heat Island Index. The urban heat islands are color coded according to their intensity, with green representing the smallest effect and red to white representing the greatest intensity. The map legend shows the range of intensity.

The urban heat island index is calculated by atmospheric modeling, as a temperature differential over time between an urban census tract and nearby upwind rural reference points at a height of two meters above ground level, where people experience heat. The modeling covered 182 warm season days from 2006 and 2013, with one-hour timesteps.

More information on layers can be found here:

https://calepa.ca.gov/climate/urban-heat-island-index-for-california/understanding-the-urban-heat-island-index/

https://oehha.ca.gov/calenviroscreen

https://www.fs.usda.gov/rds/archive/catalog/RDS-2015-0012-4

https://www.census.gov/data/developers/data-sets/acs-5year.html

Disclaimer:

This map uses urban area boundaries defined by the 2020 census, and some areas that were classified as urban in 2010 may no longer hold that designation based on the latest data. However, urban tree canopy data for these areas is still available for download.
Some city limits may extend beyond the urbanized areas; therefore, the percentage of canopy cover will exclude non-urban regions that fall within these city limit boundaries.

The USDA Forest Service makes no warranty, expressed or implied, including the warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose, nor assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, reliability, completeness or utility of these geospatial data, or for the improper or incorrect use of these geospatial data. These geospatial data and related maps or graphics are not legal documents and are not intended to be used as such. The data and maps may not be used to determine title, ownership, legal descriptions or boundaries, legal jurisdiction, or restrictions that may be in place on either public or private land. Natural hazards may or may not be depicted on the data and maps, and land users should exercise due caution. The data are dynamic and may change over time. The user is responsible to verify the limitations of the geospatial data and to use the data accordingly. As a work of the United States Government, these data are within the public domain of the United States. Additionally, The U.S. Forest Service waives copyright and related rights in the work worldwide through the CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication (which can be found at https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/).

Download urban canopy GIS data by Census Bureau urban area:

Download urban canopy GIS data, California-wide

Last updated March 27th, 2025

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California Urban Canopy Data

Download urban canopy GIS data by Census Bureau urban area:

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California Urban Canopy Data

California Urban Tree Canopy Viewer – Updated 2025

Urban Tree Canopy Layers Description

Download urban canopy GIS data by Census Bureau urban area:

Alpine to Crestline

Davis to Ione

Jackson to Nipomo

Oakdale to Running Springs

Sacramento to Yuma