> **California SEO Market Map: Local Competition by City** > How competitive local search is in 5 California cities across 12 industries, scored on one national scale. See what your market needs. [SEO Market Map](https://seoeliteagency.com/seo-market-map/) California SEO Market Map · California · 5 cities · 12 trades # Today’s SEO forecast for *California*. California ranks 2nd of 14 states for search competition, at 61 against a median of 54 across the 14 states measured so far. Its hardest trade is dentists (72); its calmest is landscaping (45). Pick yours. All trades Plumbing HVAC Roofing Electricians Landscaping Pest control Pool companies Dentists Law firms Med spas Veterinarians Chiropractors [Run myfree audit](https://seoeliteagency.com/free-seo-audit/) [Booka call](https://seoeliteagency.hbportal.co/public/69bccfccf61f1d002932ebbe) The five-city outlook ## Where search is calm, and where it is *severe*. San Francisco is calmest at 58; San Diego runs at 66. Storms likely ### San Francisco 58 / 100 Local SEO needed Hardest Dentists · 75 Calmest Pool companies · 37 Storms likely ### Fresno 58 / 100 Local SEO needed Hardest Dentists · 69 Calmest Landscaping · 35 Storms likely ### San Jose 60 / 100 Local SEO needed Hardest Dentists · 70 Calmest Landscaping · 42 Storms likely ### Los Angeles 64 / 100 Local SEO needed Hardest Law firms · 77 Calmest Roofing · 47 Severe ### San Diego 66 / 100 Full SEO plus paid Hardest Med spas · 76 Calmest Landscaping · 52 The California radar ## San Diego runs *hottest*. San Diego, Los Angeles, San Jose, Fresno and San Francisco, stormiest first. - **66** San Diego *Severe* - **64** Los Angeles *Storms likely* - **60** San Jose *Storms likely* - **58** San Francisco *Storms likely* - **58** Fresno *Storms likely* - **Clear skies 0–19 - **Mostly sunny 20–34 - **Clouds building 35–49 - **Storms likely 50–64 - **Severe 65–100 State lines: US Census Bureau. Numbered pins follow the key, stormiest first. What we found ## Inside California’s *numbers*. - **San Diego** (66): toughest, med spas at 76, where the top three hold 428 reviews at the median and 19 of 20 rivals have passed 100. Calmest, landscaping at 52 (67 at the median). - **Los Angeles** (64): toughest, law firms at 77, where the top three hold 664 reviews at the median and 20 of 20 rivals have passed 100. Calmest, roofing at 47 (138 at the median). - **San Jose** (60): toughest, dentists at 70, where the top three hold 321 reviews at the median and 19 of 20 rivals have passed 100. Calmest, landscaping at 42 (52 at the median). - **San Francisco** (58): toughest, dentists at 75, where the top three hold 925 reviews at the median and 20 of 20 rivals have passed 100. Calmest, pool companies at 37 (34 at the median). - **Fresno** (58): toughest, dentists at 69, where the top three hold 1,260 reviews at the median and 17 of 20 rivals have passed 100. Calmest, landscaping at 35 (42 at the median). The deepest review moat in California: pest control in San Diego, where the top three hold 5,363 reviews at the median. The thinnest: landscaping in San Francisco, at 23. Ratings run lowest for pool companies in San Jose (4.31 stars across the top ten) and highest for roofing in Los Angeles (4.97). We read 179 top-ranking competitor sites across California’s searches. WordPress runs 96 of them; 53 are custom or another builder. 63% carry local business markup, against 54% across every state measured, and 69% changed their sitemap in the last year. ### Each trade, calmest city to toughest - **Plumbing** Fresno 65 → San Diego 73 - **HVAC** San Francisco 52 → San Jose 68 - **Roofing** Los Angeles 47 → San Jose 58 - **Electricians** Fresno 47 → San Diego 69 - **Landscaping** Fresno 35 → Los Angeles 54 - **Pest control** San Francisco 53 → San Diego 73 - **Pool companies** San Francisco 37 → San Diego 59 - **Dentists** Fresno 69 → San Francisco 75 - **Law firms** San Jose 64 → Los Angeles 77 - **Med spas** San Francisco 63 → San Diego 76 - **Veterinarians** San Francisco 59 → Fresno 66 - **Chiropractors** San Jose 49 → San Diego 68 What a searcher sees on the map ## The view from the *phone*. City Los Angeles San Diego San Jose San Francisco Fresno Trade Plumbing HVAC Roofing Electricians Landscaping Pest control Pool companies Dentists Law firms Med spas Veterinarians Chiropractors 76 / 100 Severe Competitors with deep review counts and built-out websites hold the top spots. This market rewards full SEO, with paid search to buy time while it builds. - **428** median reviews among the top three - **19** of the top 20 with 100 or more reviews - **4.9** average stars across the top 10 9:41 ** G med spa near San Diego ★ **4.9** 428 reviews ★ **4.9** 428 reviews ★ **4.9** 428 reviews **Top 20 on the map** **************************************** 19 with 100+ reviews Drawn from the measured Google Maps results. Names are never shown. The full forecast ## Every city, every *trade*. California by city and trade, read 2026-10-29. [Methodology](https://seoeliteagency.com/seo-market-map/methodology/). City [Plumbing](https://seoeliteagency.com/seo-for-plumbing/) [HVAC](https://seoeliteagency.com/seo-for-hvac/) [Roofing](https://seoeliteagency.com/seo-for-roofing-contractors/) [Electricians](https://seoeliteagency.com/seo-for-electricians/) [Landscaping](https://seoeliteagency.com/seo-for-landscaping/) [Pest control](https://seoeliteagency.com/seo-for-pest-control/) [Pool companies](https://seoeliteagency.com/seo-for-pool-companies/) [Dentists](https://seoeliteagency.com/seo-for-dentistry/) [Law firms](https://seoeliteagency.com/seo-for-law-office/) [Med spas](https://seoeliteagency.com/seo-for-medspa/) [Veterinarians](https://seoeliteagency.com/seo-for-veterinarians/) [Chiropractors](https://seoeliteagency.com/seo-for-chiropractic/) Los Angeles 72 67 47 58 54 59 52 74 77 74 64 65 San Diego 73 62 58 69 52 73 59 72 72 76 63 68 San Jose 68 68 58 59 42 63 46 70 64 64 64 49 San Francisco 72 52 56 56 44 53 37 75 65 63 59 59 Fresno 65 61 54 47 35 63 47 69 68 65 66 59 Keep reading the map [The national forecast](https://seoeliteagency.com/seo-market-map/)[Arizona · 63](https://seoeliteagency.com/seo-market-map/arizona/)[Colorado · 59](https://seoeliteagency.com/seo-market-map/colorado/)[Florida · 59](https://seoeliteagency.com/seo-market-map/florida/)[Georgia · 55](https://seoeliteagency.com/seo-market-map/georgia/) ## Start with *the audit*. About 60 seconds, no email, and you get named findings for your own site, not a score out of a hundred. [Run myfree audit](https://seoeliteagency.com/free-seo-audit/) [Book a callinstead](https://seoeliteagency.hbportal.co/public/69bccfccf61f1d002932ebbe)