IHSS Hours by County
Average authorized hours, provider wages and caseload for every California county — plus how average hours have moved over the past two years, which CDSS publishes one month at a time and nobody assembles.
| County | Avg hours/mo | 2-yr change | Provider wage | Recipients |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Placer County | 144.2 | −2.2 | $19.38 | 6,038 |
| Sierra County | 141.1 | +25.5 | $18.50 | 59 |
| El Dorado County | 140.9 | −5.2 | $17.40 | 2,347 |
| Lake County | 139.3 | +12.2 | $17.55 | 2,889 |
| San Mateo County | 135.8 | +10.5 | $21.70 | 9,601 |
| Inyo County | 135.5 | −7.3 | $17.65 | 221 |
| Santa Clara County | 132.6 | +5.6 | $20.44 | 38,707 |
| Yolo County | 129.6 | +5.4 | $19.05 | 3,969 |
| Yuba County | 128.6 | +11.3 | $18.78 | 1,612 |
| Del Norte County | 128.4 | +4.1 | $19.50 | 501 |
| Napa County | 127.7 | +3.3 | $20.90 | 2,094 |
| Sacramento County | 127.7 | +3.4 | $19.15 | 45,673 |
| Riverside County | 126.0 | −1.1 | $19.90 | 64,171 |
| San Luis Obispo County | 125.5 | +4.4 | $21.40 | 3,312 |
| Alameda County | 125.2 | +7.0 | $22.10 | 34,949 |
| Mono County | 124.5 | −0.1 | $17.95 | 63 |
| Marin County | 124.3 | +9.0 | $20.40 | 2,570 |
| Glenn County | 124.2 | +5.3 | $17.90 | 688 |
| Solano County | 124.2 | +3.4 | $18.10 | 7,927 |
| Humboldt County | 123.6 | +2.2 | $18.40 | 3,184 |
| San Bernardino County | 122.7 | +2.5 | $19.00 | 57,648 |
| Sonoma County | 120.8 | −0.8 | $20.25 | 9,076 |
| Contra Costa County | 120.6 | +5.1 | $20.03 | 18,043 |
| Fresno County | 120.5 | −2.0 | $18.75 | 31,192 |
| San Diego County | 119.3 | +1.4 | $20.40 | 51,084 |
| Calaveras County | 118.9 | +8.7 | $17.89 | 759 |
| Santa Barbara County | 118.7 | +2.9 | $20.07 | 5,552 |
| Amador County | 118.5 | +15.7 | $19.40 | 630 |
| Kern County | 118.4 | +5.5 | $17.90 | 18,430 |
| Mariposa County | 118.3 | −1.2 | $17.50 | 360 |
| Nevada County | 116.1 | +2.3 | $18.50 | 1,348 |
| Los Angeles County | 115.9 | +3.3 | $19.64 | 312,322 |
| Merced County | 115.6 | +3.8 | $17.50 | 6,312 |
| Colusa County | 115.5 | +8.7 | $17.40 | 542 |
| Ventura County | 114.6 | −0.4 | $20.97 | 11,755 |
| Madera County | 113.8 | −1.1 | $17.90 | 4,059 |
| Orange County | 113.8 | +4.2 | $18.90 | 57,469 |
| Tulare County | 113.8 | +2.0 | $17.50 | 9,266 |
| Mendocino County | 113.4 | +5.0 | $19.71 | 2,623 |
| Kings County | 113.1 | +1.8 | $17.50 | 4,250 |
| San Benito County | 112.0 | −5.3 | $19.35 | 1,197 |
| Santa Cruz County | 111.9 | +3.2 | $20.90 | 4,084 |
| Shasta County | 111.8 | +1.0 | $18.50 | 4,925 |
| San Francisco County | 111.7 | +3.6 | $25.00 | 30,703 |
| Butte County | 111.4 | −2.9 | $17.90 | 5,358 |
| Monterey County | 111.0 | +3.4 | $21.04 | 7,717 |
| Modoc County | 110.9 | +7.0 | $17.75 | 173 |
| Tehama County | 108.9 | −2.2 | $18.40 | 1,564 |
| Imperial County | 108.6 | +8.7 | $18.83 | 10,278 |
| Lassen County | 107.1 | +1.6 | $17.55 | 335 |
| Tuolumne County | 106.4 | −13.5 | $17.90 | 646 |
| Stanislaus County | 103.8 | +1.3 | $18.75 | 9,621 |
| Plumas County | 101.2 | −2.8 | $18.50 | 381 |
| Sutter County | 98.6 | +0.7 | $17.90 | 2,190 |
| San Joaquin County | 98.0 | −0.3 | $18.97 | 12,175 |
| Alpine County | 86.5 | −29.8 | $17.85 | 22 |
| Trinity County | 85.1 | −0.6 | $18.25 | 267 |
| Siskiyou County | 78.1 | −14.2 | $16.90 | 550 |
What these numbers do and don't tell you
The hours column is an average across everyone in that county. It is not a target, an entitlement, or a prediction of what any individual will be authorized. Two people in the same county with the same diagnosis are routinely authorized very different hours, because hours follow assessed functional need task by task — see how that calculation works.
A county with a high average is not necessarily more generous. Averages move with the mix of people in the caseload: a county with more severely impaired recipients will show a higher average without treating anyone differently.
Provider wages genuinely do vary by county, because they are negotiated locally between each county and its provider union. That column is a real difference, not a statistical artifact.
Where the data comes from
Recipient counts, average authorized hours and caseload figures come from the CDSS Monthly IHSS Program Data workbook, July 2026. Provider wages come from the CDSS county wage sheet (IP Effective 10-1-2026). The two-year change column is built from 11 monthly workbooks spanning Jan 2024 – Jul 2026.
Every figure here is also on that county's own guide, generated from the same file, so the two can never disagree. Last updated 2026-10-07.
IHSSHours.com is an independent educational resource. We are not affiliated with CDSS or any county IHSS office, and these figures are reproduced from published state data rather than issued by us.
Sources
- CDSS IHSS Program Data — monthly caseload, authorized hours and expenditure by county, the source of every figure in the table above
- CDSS county wage sheet — provider wage by county (IP Effective 10-1-2026)
- MPP 30-701(s)(1), WIC 12303.4 — “severely impaired” and the 283 / 195 hour monthly maximums that cap any individual authorization
- WIC 12301.2, MPP 30-758 — time-per-task and frequency, the basis on which each county authorizes hours
- MPP 30-763.2 — monthly need is the weekly amount multiplied by 4.33
- WIC 12302.25 — county wage rates are set locally through the Public Authority, which is why they differ across counties
County averages describe a caseload, not an entitlement. Your own hours come from your assessment, not from your county's average. Educational information, not legal advice.