Bidwell Park, one of the largest city parks in the country, runs right through Chico, a tree-lined college town of about 105,000 in the northern Sacramento Valley, home to Cal State Chico and Sierra Nevada Brewing Company. The park has swimming holes and trails, and downtown is walkable with a Saturday farmers market and a Thursday night market in summer. It feels easygoing and youthful, tied to the rhythm of the school year.
Visitors tour the brewery, see Bidwell Mansion, and use the town as a base for Lake Oroville or Lassen Volcanic National Park. Sacramento is about 90 miles away. Housing is moderate for California but above the national average, and rentals are tight thanks to the university and the recovery from the 2018 Camp Fire in nearby Paradise. Property crime is higher than the state average. Wildfire smoke, summer highs above 100 degrees, and drownings at the swimming holes are real risks.
Cities with a similar character, anywhere on the site.
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- Known as
- City of Roses; Home of California State University, Chico; Home of Sierra Nevada Brewing Company; Tree City USA
- Founded
- 1860 founded by John Bidwell (Bidwell laid out the town); 1872 incorporated
- Languages
- English; Spanish; Hmong; Punjabi; Tagalog
- Airports
- Chico Municipal (CIC), about 5 miles north, limited commercial service; Sacramento International (SMF), about 90 miles south; Redding Municipal (RDD), about 90 miles north; Oakland (OAK) about 175 miles
- Tipping
- Restaurants 18-20%; bars $1-2 per drink; taxis and rideshare 15-20%; hotel housekeeping $3-5 per night; bellhops $2-5 per bag; counter service optional
About this data
Population 105,081 (Census Vintage 2025), land area 34.14 sq mi, median home value and rent from Census QuickFacts. Metro figure 209,211 is the Chico MSA (Butte County) 2025 estimate from FRED (Census). Chico has no dedicated city tourism bureau confirmed; Explore Butte County is the regional bureau, and the calendar is the Downtown Chico events page. Elevation, coordinates, founding, event names and months, hotel ranges, tipping, cost of living, market price and crime are approximate or from general knowledge; lower confidence. URLs seen in search results but not load-tested.
