California's 42nd Congressional District
California · CA-42
California's 42nd Congressional District is one of 52 U.S. House districts in California, represented in Congress by Robert Garcia (Democrat). It is home to roughly 746,833 people, with a median age of 39.5. The population is about 46% White. The median household income is $102,956, and 44% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or higher. In the 2024 presidential election it voted safely Democratic (D+32).
Representative
Current U.S. House member (source: house.gov).
Geography
CA-42 is shown in red. Click a neighboring district to open it, or zoom out to explore the country.
Covering 245 square miles, CA-42 is the 359th-largest of the 435 congressional districts by land area. With about 3,048 residents per square mile, it is a heavily urban district. Its shape is very irregular: the district's Polsby-Popper score of 0.07 ranks 425th of 435 nationally, where 1st is the most compact.
Presidential results
In the 2024 presidential election, 64% of CA-42 voters backed Kamala Harris and 32% Donald Trump — a D+32 margin. That is a 14.0-point shift toward the Republicans from 2020, when the district voted D+46.
Two-party presidential vote by district (source: The Downballot).
Who lives here
The median resident of the district is 39.5 years old; 18.1% of residents are under 18 and 16.5% are 65 or older. About 21% of residents were born outside the United States, and 34.4% speak a language other than English at home.
U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (5-year estimates).
Economy & education
At $102,956, the district's median household income ranks 65th of 435 districts nationwide. The typical owner-occupied home is worth $955,506, and the median rent is $2,148 a month. 10.6% of residents live below the poverty line, and workers average a 29.9-minute commute (18.3% work from home).
U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (5-year estimates).