CALIFORNIA (MPG) - SmartNews, a global leader in news discovery, released a comprehensive ranking of the smartest and most news-obsessed cities in California. 

SmartNews identified the 999 smartest cities in America, based on per capita daily news consumption, and found that the smartest city in California is Valley Center. California had 125 cities in the top 999 smartest cities in America.

Rancho Cordova and Citrus Heights were amongst the Smartest Cities in California alongside Santa Cruz, Roseville, Palm Desert, Ventura, Redding, Eureka and Novato.

The full list of the Smartest Cities in America can be found on the SmartNews website. 

“California has some of the most intelligent people in the country,” said Jason Alderman of SmartNews. “There has long been a friendly rivalry between the cities in California about which is the smartest, and now SmartNews has settled the debate with this definitive list.”

SmartNews is a news aggregator app used by millions of Americans in every corner of the U.S. and across the political spectrum. This gives SmartNews unique insights into the news consumption of Americans regardless of ideology, economic status, or location. The cities are ranked based on time spent per capita viewing news in the SmartNews app in the first quarter of 2025.

Founded in 2012, SmartNews is a leading global information and news discovery company, dedicated to delivering quality information to the people who need it. SmartNews provides news that matters to millions of readers using powerful AI discovery, a team of award-winning journalists offering thoughtful curation, and deep partnerships with more than 3,000 trusted global publisher partners.