Short answer: 11,811 landscaping contractors with a California address held an active C-27 Landscaping Contractor license on October 7, 2026, according to the Contractors State License Board. California requires that license for landscape work worth $1,000 or more in labor and materials. City lists below are built from those state records.
Browse by city
We publish a city list once state records show enough active licensees there to be useful. These are the first ten, by number of licensees:
- San Diego: 353 active C-27 licenses
- San Jose: 282 active C-27 licenses
- Sacramento: 276 active C-27 licenses
- Los Angeles: 185 active C-27 licenses
- Escondido: 167 active C-27 licenses
- Fresno: 138 active C-27 licenses
- Riverside: 133 active C-27 licenses
- Santa Ana: 127 active C-27 licenses
- Santa Rosa: 116 active C-27 licenses
- Santa Barbara: 111 active C-27 licenses
Where California’s licensed landscapers are
| County | Active C-27 licenses | Share of state |
|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | 1,610 | 13.6% |
| San Diego | 1,317 | 11.2% |
| Orange | 1,015 | 8.6% |
| Riverside | 999 | 8.5% |
| Santa Clara | 563 | 4.8% |
| Sacramento | 560 | 4.7% |
| Contra Costa | 499 | 4.2% |
| San Bernardino | 462 | 3.9% |
| Alameda | 402 | 3.4% |
| Sonoma | 367 | 3.1% |
| Ventura | 347 | 2.9% |
| Placer | 279 | 2.4% |
| Santa Barbara | 262 | 2.2% |
| San Mateo | 261 | 2.2% |
| Fresno | 217 | 1.8% |
What the C-27 license covers
Under CSLB rules a C-27 contractor builds, maintains, repairs and installs landscape systems: planting, irrigation, grading for landscape, and hardscape including walks, patios and retaining walls tied to the landscape. Work under $1,000 in combined labor and materials is exempt only when no permit is needed, no workers are employed and the person does not advertise as a contractor. The full rules for every state are in our licensing table.
What this list checks, and what it doesn’t
Every business here held a California C-27 Landscaping Contractor license with status “CLEAR” (current, not expired, no suspension) in the Contractors State License Board’s classification list retrieved on October 7, 2026. Licenses suspended for bond, workers’ compensation or liability-insurance problems are left out. Cities come from each licensee’s address of record, so a firm appears under the city where it is registered, not every city it serves.
We don’t verify insurance, reviews, workmanship or price, and we don’t rank firms: the list is alphabetical. Status can change after our retrieval date, so open the CSLB record (linked from each license number) before you sign a contract. No business paid to appear, and none can pay to change its license details.
A license listing is not an endorsement. Confirm the license, the bond and the workers’ compensation status on the CSLB record before any work over $1,000 in labor and materials.
Sources
- California Contractors State License Board, License Data Portal: List by Classification (C-27), retrieved October 7, 2026.
- California Code of Regulations, Title 16, Division 8 (CSLB laws and regulations), §832.27 Class C-27 Landscaping Contractor.
- California Business and Professions Code §7048 (minor-work exemption, $1,000 including labor and materials from January 1, 2025).