List of tallest buildings in California facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

This list ranks skyscrapers and high rise buildings in the state of California by height. Buildings in six cities are included in this list; Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Sacramento, Burbank and Oakland each have buildings taller than 400 feet (120 m).

The tallest building is the Wilshire Grand Center at 1,100 feet (340 m).

Buildings over 500 feet

All of the buildings taller than 500 feet (150 m) are in Los Angeles and San Francisco. The tallest building in San Diego rises exactly 500 feet due to restrictions imposed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in the 1970s, because of the downtown's proximity to San Diego International Airport.

Rank	Name	Height ft / m	Floors	Year	City	Rank in its city	Notes
1	Wilshire Grand Center	1,100 (340)	73	2017	Los Angeles	1	Topped-out in 2016, and officially opened in June 2017. The tower is the tallest building in Los Angeles and the West Coast of the United States as measured by structural height, which includes a 295-foot spire. When measured by roof height, the tower is 934 ft. tall, which is 84 ft. shorter than the US Bank Tower roof.
2	Salesforce Tower	1,070 (330)	61	2018	San Francisco	1	91st-tallest building in the world, 17th-tallest building in the United States, 2nd-tallest building on the West Coast, Tallest building in San Francisco since 2018, Tallest building constructed in San Francisco in the 2010s.
3	U.S. Bank Tower	1,018 (310)	73	1989	Los Angeles	2	99th-tallest building in the world, 16th-tallest building in the United States, tallest building on the West Coast of the United States when measured by roof height. Only building in California whose roof height exceeds 1,000 ft. Tallest structure in a major active seismic region from 1989 to 2010; Taipei 101 now holds this title. Tallest building constructed in Los Angeles in the 1980s. Formerly known as Library Tower.
N/A	Sutro Tower	977 (298)		1973	San Francisco	N/A	Tallest non-building radio tower in San Francisco since 1973. Because it sits atop a hill, the tower actually reaches a height of 1,814 ft (553 m) above sea level.
4	Aon Center	02.0858 / 262	62	1973	Los Angeles	3	45th-tallest building in the United States. Tallest building constructed in Los Angeles in the 1970s.
5	Transamerica Pyramid	853 (260)	48	1972	San Francisco	2	Tallest building in San Francisco from 1972-2017; 46th-tallest in the United States, and 190th-tallest in the world; tallest building on the West Coast from 1972 until 1974; tallest building constructed in San Francisco in the 1970s
6	555 California Street	779 (237)	52	1969	San Francisco	3	75th-tallest building in the United States; tallest building on the West Coast from 1969 to 1972; formerly known as Bank of America Center; tallest building constructed in the city in the 1960s
7	Two California Plaza	03.0750 / 229	54	1992	Los Angeles	4	96th-tallest building in the United States (tied). Tallest building constructed in Los Angeles in the 1990s.
8	Gas Company Tower	04.0749 / 228	52	1991	Los Angeles	5	80th-tallest building in the United States.
9	Bank of America Center	05.0735 / 224	55	1974	Los Angeles	6	116th-tallest building in the United States (tied). Originally known as Security Pacific Bank Plaza, then as ARCO Plaza, then BP Plaza.
10	777 Tower	06.0725 / 221	52	1991	Los Angeles	7
11	Wells Fargo Tower	07.0723 / 220	54	1983	Los Angeles	8
12	Figueroa at Wilshire	08.0717 / 219	53	1990	Los Angeles	9	Formerly known as the Sanwa Bank Building.
13	City National Tower	09.0699 / 213	52	1972	Los Angeles	10	This building and Paul Hastings Tower stand as the tallest twin towers in Los Angeles. Formerly known as the Bank of America Tower.
13	Paul Hastings Tower	10.0699 / 213	52	1972	Los Angeles	10	This building and City National Tower stand as the tallest twin towers in Los Angeles. Formerly known as ARCO Tower.
15	345 California Center	695 (212)	48	1986	San Francisco	4	Tallest mid-block skyscraper in San Francisco; tallest building constructed in the city in the 1980s
16	LA Live Hotels & Condominiums	653 / 199	54	2010	Los Angeles	12
17	Millennium Tower	645 (197)	58	2009	San Francisco	5	Tallest building constructed in the city in the 2000s
18	One Rincon Hill South Tower	641 (195)	60	2008	San Francisco	6	Tallest all-residential building in the city
19	825 South Hill	636 (193)	49	2019	Los Angeles	15	Alternatively called 820 Olive. Construction started in 2016 and completed in 2019.
20	Citigroup Center	11.0625 / 191	48	1979	Los Angeles	13	Formerly known as the 444 Flower Building.
21	611 Place	12.0620 / 189	42	1967	Los Angeles	14	Tallest building constructed in Los Angeles in the 1960s.
22	50 Fremont Center	600 (183)	43	1985	San Francisco	7
22	101 California Street	600 (183)	48	1982	San Francisco	7
24	One California Plaza	13.0578 / 176	42	1985	Los Angeles	15
25	Market Center	573 (175)	40	1975	San Francisco	9
26	Century Plaza Tower II	14.0571 / 174	44	1975	Los Angeles	16	This building and Century Plaza Tower I stand as the tallest buildings in California outside the CBDs of Los Angeles and San Francisco.
26	Century Plaza Tower I	15.0571 / 174	44	1975	Los Angeles	16	This building and Century Plaza Tower II stand as the tallest buildings in California outside the CBDs Los Angeles and San Francisco.
28	Four Embarcadero Center	570 (174)	45	1982	San Francisco	10
29	One Embarcadero Center	569 (173)	45	1971	San Francisco	11
30	44 Montgomery Street	565 (172)	43	1967	San Francisco	12
31	Spear Tower	564 (172)	43	1976	San Francisco	13
32	KPMG Tower	16.0560 / 171	45	1983	Los Angeles	18
33	One Sansome Street	550 (168)	39	1984	San Francisco	14
34	One Front Street	538 (164)	38	1979	San Francisco	15
35	Ernst & Young Plaza	17.0534 / 163	41	1985	Los Angeles	19
36	SunAmerica Center	18.0533 / 162	39	1990	Los Angeles	20
37	First Market Tower	529 (161)	39	1973	San Francisco	16
37	McKesson Plaza	529 (161)	38	1969	San Francisco	16
39	425 Market Street	525 (160)	38	1973	San Francisco	18
40	TCW Tower	19.0517 / 158	39	1990	Los Angeles	21
41	Union Bank Plaza	20.0516 / 157	40	1968	Los Angeles	22
42	10 Universal City Plaza	21.0506 / 154	36	1984	Los Angeles	23	Tallest building in the San Fernando Valley.

Buildings from 400 to 500 feet

San Diego skyline in April 2009

Rank	Name	Height ft (m)	Floors	Year	City	Notes
43	One America Plaza	500 (152)	34	1991	San Diego	Tallest building in San Diego; tallest building in California outside of Los Angeles and San Francisco; tallest building constructed in the 1990s
43	Telesis Tower	500 (152)	38	1982	San Francisco
45	Symphony Towers	499 (152)	34	1989	San Diego
46	Manchester Grand Hyatt Hotel	497 (151)	40	1992	San Diego	Tallest building on the waterfront on the West Coast
47	1100 Wilshire	496 (151)	35	1987	Los Angeles	Tallest residential building in the city.
48	333 Bush Street	495 (151)	43	1986	San Francisco
49	Hilton San Francisco Tower I	493 (150)	46	1971	San Francisco	Tallest building used exclusively as a hotel in the city
50	Fox Plaza	492 (150)	34	1987	Los Angeles
50	Pacific Gas & Electric Building	492 (150)	34	1971	San Francisco
52	MGM Tower/Constellation Place	491 (150)	35	2003	Los Angeles	The first high rise to be completed in the 21st century in Century City.
53	50 California Street	487 (148)	37	1972	San Francisco
54	St. Regis San Francisco	484 (148)	42	2005	San Francisco
55	The Century	478 (146)	42	2009	Los Angeles
56	100 Pine Center	476 (145)	33	1972	San Francisco
56	45 Fremont Street	476 (145)	34	1978	San Francisco
58	Electra	475 (145)	43	2007	San Diego	Tallest residential tower in San Diego
59	333 Market Street	472 (144)	33	1979	San Francisco
60	650 California Street	466 (142)	34	1964	San Francisco	Also known as the Hartford Building.
61	ARCO Tower/1055 West Seventh	462 (141)	33	1989	Los Angeles
62	The Tower Burbank	460 (140)	32	1988	Burbank	Tallest building in Burbank, CA.
63	555 Mission Street	458 (140)	33	2008	San Francisco
64	Los Angeles City Hall	454 (138)	32	1928	Los Angeles	Tallest building constructed in Los Angeles in the 1920s. Tallest base-isolated structure in the world.
64	Equitable Life Building	454 (138)	34	1969	Los Angeles
66	AT&T Center	452 (138)	32	1965	Los Angeles
67	Emerald Plaza	450 (137)	30	1990	San Diego
	The Pinnacle Museum Tower	450 (137)	36	2005	San Diego
	The Infinity I	450 (137)	41	2008	San Francisco
70	PacBell Tower	448 (137)	17	1961	Los Angeles
71	100 First Plaza	447 (136)	27	1988	San Francisco
72	Manchester Grand Hyatt Seaport	446 (136)	34	2003	San Diego
73	5900 Wilshire	443 (135)	32	1971	Los Angeles
74	One California	438 (134)	32	1969	San Francisco
75	San Francisco Marriott	436 (133)	39	1989	San Francisco
76	Russ Building	435 (133)	32	1927	San Francisco	Tied as the tallest building constructed in the city in the 1920s
76	140 New Montgomery	435 (133)	26	1925	San Francisco	Tied as the tallest building constructed in the city in the 1920s
78	Wells Fargo Center	429 (131)	30	1992	Sacramento	Tallest building in Sacramento. Tallest building completed in the 1990s. Tallest building not in the top 3 largest cities in California(San Francisco, San Diego, Los Angeles
79	Harbor Club West	424 (129)	41	1992	San Diego
79	Harbor Club East	424 (129)	41	1992	San Diego
81	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
86	Providian Financial Building	417 (127)	30	1981	San Francisco
87	Warner Center Plaza II	415 (126)	25	1991	Los Angeles
88	MCI Center	414 (126)	33	1973	Los Angeles
89	Three Embarcadero Center	413 (126)	31	1977	San Francisco
89	Two Embarcadero Center	413 (126)	30	1974	San Francisco
91	Advanced Equities Plaza	412 (126)	23	2005	San Diego
92	595 Market Street	410 (125)	30	1979	San Francisco
93	123 Mission Street	407 (124)	29	1986	San Francisco
94	101 Montgomery	404 (123)	28	1984	San Francisco
	Embarcadero West	404 (123)	34	1989	San Francisco
	Ordway Building	404 (123)	28	1970	Oakland	Tallest building in Oakland and in the Bay Area outside of San Francisco.
97	US Bank Tower	402 (123)	25	2008	Sacramento	This building topped out in 2007 to become the city's second tallest building.
98	100 Van Ness Avenue	400 (122)	29	1974	San Francisco

Timeline of tallest buildings in California

Name	Years as tallest	Height	Floors	City	Notes
Montgomery Block	1853–1854	15 m (49 ft)	4	San Francisco
Old Saint Mary's Cathedral	1854–1874	27 m (89 ft)		San Francisco
California State Capitol	1874–1890	64 m (210 ft)	6	Sacramento
Chronicle Building	1890–1898	66 m (217 ft)		San Francisco
Call Building	1898–1914	96 m (315 ft)		San Francisco
Oakland City Hall	1914–1922	98 m (322 ft)	18	Oakland
Standard Oil Building	1922–1925	100 m (330 ft)		San Francisco
Pacific Telephone Building	1925–1928	133 m (436 ft)
Russ Building	1927–1928	133 m (436 ft)	32
Los Angeles City Hall	1928–1965	138 m (453 ft)	32	Los Angeles
Hartford Building	1965–1967	142 m (466 ft)	34	San Francisco
44 Montgomery Street	1967–1969	172 m (564 ft)	43
555 California Street	1969–1972	237 m (778 ft)	52		Then known as Bank of America Center
Transamerica Pyramid	1972–1973	260 m (850 ft)	48
Aon Center	1973–1990	262 m (860 ft)	62	Los Angeles
US Bank Tower	1990–2017	310 m (1,020 ft)	73		Formerly Library Tower
Wilshire Grand Center	2017–present	335 m (1,099 ft)	73

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