List of tallest buildings in California facts for kids

California is home to some of the tallest buildings in the United States! This list shows you the highest skyscrapers and structures in the state. You'll find these tall buildings in seven cities: Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Long Beach, Sacramento, Burbank, and Oakland. Each of these cities has buildings taller than 400 feet (about 122 meters).

The very tallest building in California is the Wilshire Grand Center in Los Angeles. It stands at an amazing 1,100 feet (335 meters) tall! Most of the buildings taller than 500 feet (152 meters) are found in Los Angeles and San Francisco. San Diego's tallest building is exactly 500 feet high. This is because of rules set by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in the 1970s. These rules were put in place because downtown San Diego is very close to the San Diego International Airport.

California's Super Tall Buildings (Over 500 Feet)

The Los Angeles skyline in 2019, showing many tall buildings.

Here's a look at the tallest buildings in California that are over 500 feet high.

Rank	Name	Image	Height ft / m	Floors	Year	City	Rank in its city	Cool Facts
1	Wilshire Grand Center		1,100 (340)	73	2017	Los Angeles	1	This tower opened in 2017. It's the tallest building in Los Angeles and on the West Coast of the United States. It has a tall spire that makes it extra high!
2	Salesforce Tower		1,070 (330)	61	2018	San Francisco	1	This is the tallest building in San Francisco since 2018. It's also the second-tallest building on the West Coast.
3	U.S. Bank Tower		1,018 (310)	73	1989	Los Angeles	2	This building was once the tallest on the West Coast of the United States when measured by its roof height. It was known as Library Tower before.
N/A	Sutro Tower		977 (298)		1973	San Francisco	N/A	This is a very tall radio tower, not a building. It sits on a hill, so it looks even taller from the ground!
N/A	KCBS Tower		972 (296)		1986	Mount Wilson	N/A	This is the second-tallest radio tower in California. It's also on top of a mountain, making it seem super high.
4	Aon Center		858 (262)	62	1973	Los Angeles	3	This building was the tallest one built in Los Angeles during the 1970s.
5	Transamerica Pyramid		853 (260)	48	1972	San Francisco	2	This pyramid-shaped building was the tallest in San Francisco for many years, from 1972 to 2017.
6	181 Fremont		803 (245)	56	2017	San Francisco	3	This building is home to the San Francisco offices of Facebook and Instagram.
7	555 California Street		779 (237)	52	1969	San Francisco	4	This building was the tallest on the West Coast from 1969 to 1972. It used to be called the Bank of America Center.
8	Two California Plaza		750 (230)	54	1992	Los Angeles	4	This was the tallest building constructed in Los Angeles during the 1990s.
9	Gas Company Tower		749 (228)	52	1991	Los Angeles	5
10	Bank of America Center		735 (224)	55	1974	Los Angeles	6	This building has had a few different names over the years!
11	777 Tower		725 (221)	52	1991	Los Angeles	7
12	Wells Fargo North Tower		723 (220)	54	1983	Los Angeles	8
13	Figueroa at Wilshire		717 (219)	53	1990	Los Angeles	9	This building used to be called the Sanwa Bank Building.
14=	City National Tower		699 (213)	52	1972	Los Angeles	10 =	These two buildings are the tallest twin towers in Los Angeles.
	Paul Hastings Tower		699 (213)	52	1972	Los Angeles
16 =	The Beaudry		695 (212)	52	2023	Los Angeles	12	This is the tallest building in California that is used only for homes.
	345 California Center		695 (212)	48	1986	San Francisco	5	This is the tallest skyscraper in San Francisco that isn't right on a main street.
18	Oceanwide Plaza Tower 1		677 (206)	49	2020	Los Angeles	13	This tower is topped off, but the inside is not finished yet.
19	LA Live Hotels & Condominiums		667 (203)	54	2010	Los Angeles	14
20	Metropolis Tower D		647 (197)	58	2019	Los Angeles	15
21	Millennium Tower		645 (197)	58	2009	San Francisco	6	This was the tallest building built in San Francisco in the 2000s.
22	One Rincon Hill South Tower		641 (195)	60	2008	San Francisco	7	This is the tallest building in San Francisco used only for homes.
23	820 Olive		636 (194)	49	2019	Los Angeles	16	Also known as 825 Hill.
24	Citigroup Center		625 (191)	48	1979	Los Angeles	17	This building was once called the 444 Flower Building.
25	611 Place		620 (190)	42	1967	Los Angeles	18	This was the tallest building built in Los Angeles in the 1960s.
26	The Avery		618 (188)	66	2019	San Francisco	8
27	Wells Fargo South Tower		606 (185)	42	1984	Los Angeles	19
28	Park Tower at Transbay		605 (184)	43	2018	San Francisco	9
29 =	Century Plaza Hotel Residential Tower North		600 (180)	46	2021	Los Angeles	20 =	These two towers are the tallest buildings in California outside the main downtown areas of Los Angeles and San Francisco.
	Century Plaza Hotel Residential Tower South		600 (180)	46	2021	Los Angeles	20 =
	Salesforce West		600 (180)	43	1985	San Francisco	10=
	101 California Street		600 (180)	48	1982	San Francisco	10=
33	One California Plaza		578 (176)	42	1985	Los Angeles	22
34	Market Center		573 (175)	40	1975	San Francisco	12
35=	Century Plaza Tower I		571 (174)	44	1975	Los Angeles	23 =	These towers were designed by the famous architect Minoru Yamasaki. They look a bit like his other famous work, the original World Trade Center in New York City.
	Century Plaza Tower II		571 (174)	44	1975	Los Angeles
37	Four Embarcadero Center		570 (170)	45	1982	San Francisco	13
38	One Embarcadero Center		569 (173)	45	1971	San Francisco	14
39	44 Montgomery Street		565 (172)	43	1967	San Francisco	15
40	Spear Tower		564 (172)	43	1976	San Francisco	16
41	KPMG Tower		560 (170)	45	1983	Los Angeles	25
42	One Sansome Street		550 (170)	39	1984	San Francisco	17
43	One Rincon Hill North Tower		541 (165)	49	2014	San Francisco	18
44	One Front Street		538 (164)	38	1979	San Francisco	19
45	Ernst & Young Plaza		534 (163)	41	1985	Los Angeles	26
46	SunAmerica Center		533 (162)	39	1990	Los Angeles	27
47 =	Oceanwide Plaza Tower II		530 (160)	40	2020	Los Angeles	28 =	These towers are topped off, but their insides are not finished yet.
	Oceanwide Plaza Tower III		530 (160)	40	2020	Los Angeles	28 =
49 =	First Market Tower		529 (161)	39	1973	San Francisco	20=
	McKesson Plaza		529 (161)	38	1969	San Francisco
	Hope+Flower Tower 1		529 (161)	40	2019	Los Angeles	30 =
	Fig+Pico Tower 1		529 (161)	42	2023	Los Angeles	30=
53	425 Market Street		525 (160)	38	1973	San Francisco	22
54	The Grand By Gehry		522 (159)	39	2022	Los Angeles	32	This building was designed by the famous architect Frank Gehry.
55	TCW Tower		517 (158)	39	1990	Los Angeles	33
56	Union Bank Plaza		516 (157)	40	1968	Los Angeles	34
57	Four Seasons Private Residences at 706 Mission Street		510 (160)	43	2020	San Francisco	23
58	10 Universal City Plaza		506 (154)	36	1984	Los Angeles	35	This is the tallest building in the San Fernando Valley.

Buildings from 400 to 500 Feet Tall

The San Diego skyline in April 2009.

Here are more tall buildings in California, ranging from 400 to 500 feet high.

Rank	Name	Image	Height ft (m)	Floors	Year	City	Cool Facts
59=	One America Plaza		500 (152)	34	1991	San Diego	This is the tallest building in San Diego. It's also the tallest building in California outside of Los Angeles and San Francisco.
	Telesis Tower		500 (152)	38	1982	San Francisco
61	Symphony Towers		499 (152)	34	1989	San Diego
62	Manchester Grand Hyatt Hotel		497 (151)	40	1992	San Diego	This is the tallest building right on the waterfront on the West Coast.
63	1100 Wilshire		496 (151)	35	1987	Los Angeles	This building is known for its large parking garage above the ground.
64	333 Bush Street		495 (151)	43	1986	San Francisco
65=	Hilton San Francisco Tower I		493 (150)	46	1971	San Francisco	This is the tallest building in San Francisco used only as a hotel.
	Fox Plaza		493 (150)	34	1987	Los Angeles	You might know this building as Nakatomi Plaza from the 1988 movie Die Hard!
67	Pacific Gas & Electric Building		492 (150)	34	1971	San Francisco
68	MGM Tower/Constellation Place		491 (150)	35	2003	Los Angeles	This was the first tall building finished in Century City in the 2000s.
69=	555 Mission Street		487 (148)	33	2008	San Francisco
	50 California Street		487 (148)	37	1972	San Francisco
71	St. Regis San Francisco		484 (148)	42	2005	San Francisco
72	Ten Thousand		483 (147)	40	2017	Los Angeles	This building was designed by Handel Architects.
73	The Century		478 (146)	42	2009	Los Angeles
74=	100 Pine Center		476 (145)	33	1972	San Francisco
	45 Fremont Street		476 (145)	34	1978	San Francisco
76	Electra		475 (145)	43	2007	San Diego	This is the tallest building in San Diego used for homes.
77	333 Market Street		472 (144)	33	1979	San Francisco
78	650 California Street		466 (142)	34	1964	San Francisco	This building is also known as the Hartford Building.
79	ARCO Tower/1055 West Seventh		462 (141)	33	1989	Los Angeles
80	The Tower Burbank		460 (140)	32	1988	Burbank	This is the tallest building in Burbank, CA.
81	555 Mission Street		458 (140)	33	2008	San Francisco
82=	Los Angeles City Hall		454 (138)	32	1928	Los Angeles	This was the tallest building built in Los Angeles in the 1920s. It's also the tallest building in the world that uses a special system to protect it from earthquakes.
	Equitable Life Building		454 (138)	34	1969	Los Angeles
84	South Park Center		452 (138)	32	1965	Los Angeles
85	Metropolis Tower C		451 (137)	40	2018	Los Angeles
86	LUMINA I		450 (137)	43	2015	San Francisco
87	The Pinnacle Museum Tower		450 (137)	36	2005	San Diego
88	The Infinity I		450 (137)	41	2008	San Francisco
89	AT&T Switching Center		448 (137)	17	1961	Los Angeles
90	100 First Plaza		447 (136)	27	1988	San Francisco
91	Manchester Grand Hyatt Seaport		446 (136)	34	2003	San Diego
92	5900 Wilshire		443 (135)	32	1971	Los Angeles
93	Metropolis Tower B		442 (135)	38	2017	Los Angeles	This building is home to the Indigo Hotel.
94=	399 Fremont Street		440 (134)	42	2016	San Francisco
	340 Fremont Street		440 (134)	43	2019	San Francisco
	500 Folsom		440 (134)	40	2016	San Francisco
97	Hallasan Tower		439 (134)	38	2023	Los Angeles
98	One California		438 (134)	32	1969	San Francisco
99	San Francisco Marriott		436 (133)	39	1989	San Francisco
100=	Russ Building		435 (133)	32	1927	San Francisco	This building was tied for the tallest building built in San Francisco in the 1920s.
	140 New Montgomery		435 (133)	26	1925	San Francisco	This building was also tied for the tallest building built in San Francisco in the 1920s.
102	Jasper		430 (131)	39	2015	San Francisco
103=	Harbor Club West		424 (129)	41	1992	San Diego
	Harbor Club East		424 (129)	41	1992	San Diego
105	Wells Fargo Center		423 (129)	30	1992	Sacramento	This is the tallest building in Sacramento.
106	MIRA		422 (129)	39	2020	San Francisco
107	Hope+Flower Tower II		421 (128)	31	2019	Los Angeles
108=	The Grande South at Santa Fe Place		420 (128)	39	2004	San Diego
	The Grande North at Santa Fe Place		420 (128)	39	2005	San Diego
	Vantage Pointe Condominium		420 (128)	41	2009	San Diego
	JPMorgan Chase Building		420 (128)	31	2002	San Francisco
	The Paramount		420 (128)	40	2002	San Francisco
	The Infinity II		420 (128)	41	2009	San Francisco
114=	Shoreline Gateway East Tower		417 (127)	35	2021	Long Beach	This is the tallest building in Long Beach.
	Providian Financial Building		417 (127)	30	1981	San Francisco
116	Warner Center Plaza II		415 (126)	25	1991	Los Angeles
117	MCI Center		414 (126)	33	1973	Los Angeles
118=	Three Embarcadero Center		413 (126)	31	1977	San Francisco
	Two Embarcadero Center		413 (126)	30	1974	San Francisco
120	Advanced Equities Plaza		412 (126)	23	2005	San Diego
121	595 Market Street		410 (125)	30	1979	San Francisco
122	123 Mission Street		407 (124)	29	1986	San Francisco
123=	101 Montgomery		404 (123)	28	1984	San Francisco
	Embarcadero West		404 (123)	34	1989	San Francisco
	Ordway Building		404 (123)	28	1970	Oakland	This is the tallest building in Oakland.
126	US Bank Tower		402 (123)	25	2008	Sacramento	This building became Sacramento's second tallest building in 2007.
127=	100 Van Ness Avenue		400 (122)	29	1974	San Francisco
	LUMINA II		400 (122)	38	2015	San Francisco
	Atlas		400 (122)	40	2020	Oakland
	Fifteen Fifty		400 (122)	40	2020	San Francisco
	Circa Tower I		400 (122)	35	2018	Los Angeles	This building is home to the Moxy Hotel.
	Circa Tower II		400 (122)	35	2018	Los Angeles

Timeline of California's Tallest Buildings

This table shows which building was the tallest in California over different periods of time.

See also

• List of tallest buildings in Los Angeles
• List of tallest buildings in San Francisco
• List of tallest buildings in Sacramento
• List of tallest buildings in Oakland
• List of tallest buildings in Long Beach
• List of tallest buildings in San Diego
• List of tallest buildings in San Jose