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The Miss California competition selects the representative for the state of California in the Miss America competition.
The pageant began in Santa Cruz in 1924 and was held there in 1925. During the years 1926 through 1946 in years when the Miss California pageant was held, the competition was primarily in San Francisco and Venice, California. In 1947, it returned to Santa Cruz and was held there annually until 1985, after which it moved to San Diego in response to years of protests and a "Myth California" counter pageant organized by local feminist activists led by Ann Simonton and Nikki Craft. "Police Arrest 11 Demonstrators in Protest of Pageant", Associated Press in Oxnard Press-Courier, June 17, 1986.Kirsten Anderberg, "Radical body politics for women", KirstenAnderberg.com 2004 It has been held in Visalia, California since 2023.
Rachel Axt of Clovis was crowned Miss California 2025 on June 21, 2025, at the Visalia Convention Center in Visalia, California. She will compete for the title of Miss America 2026 in September 2025.
| 2025 | Rachel Axt | Clovis | 24 | Miss Clovis | Vocal | TBD | TBD | |
| 2024 | Kimberly Vernon | Santa Clara | 27 | Miss Santa Clara County | Jazz Dance | 100th Miss California | ||
| 2023 | Sabrina Lewis | Berkeley | 26 | Miss Berkeley | HERstory | Previously Miss California USA 2021 | ||
| 2022 | Catherine Liang | San Francisco | 22 | Miss San Francisco | Piano | Women in Business Finalist Non-finalist Talent Award | ||
| 2021 | Jazmin Avalos | Garden Grove | 24 | Miss Los Angeles County | Vocal | |||
| 2019–20 | Eileen Kim | Orange | 22 | Miss Culver City | Violin | Top 15 | ||
| 2018 | MacKenzie Freed | Lodi | 23 | Miss Treasure Island | Vocal, "Hit Me With a Hot Note" | |||
| 2017 | Jillian Smith | Grass Valley | 22 | Miss Yosemite Valley | Piano, "Malaguena" | |||
| 2016 | Jessa Carmack | Santa Clara | 22 | Miss North Bay | Gymnastics Dance | Top 10 | Previously Miss California's Outstanding Teen 2011 Finalist at Miss America's Outstanding Teen 2011 pageant | |
| 2015 | Bree Morse | Garden Grove | 23 | Miss Orange Coast | Tap Dance, "Land of a Thousand Dances" | |||
| 2014 | Marina Inserra | San Diego | 24 | Miss Yosemite Valley | Vocal, "Bring Him Home" from Les Misérables | |||
| 2013 | Crystal Lee | San Francisco | 22 | Miss Silicon Valley | Ballet en Pointe, "The Dying Swan" | 1st runner-up | STEM Scholarship Award | Previously Miss California's Outstanding Teen 2008 Top 10 at Miss America's Outstanding Teen 2009 pageant Previously Miss Chinatown USA 2010 Cousin of Miss Louisiana 2016, Justine Ker |
| 2012 | Leah Cecil | Garden Grove | 22 | Miss Southern California Regional | Classical Harp, "Great Day" by Nancy Gustavson | Contestant at National Sweetheart 2011 pageant | ||
| 2011 | Noelle Freeman | Carlsbad | 22 | Miss Culver City | Ballet en Pointe, "The Black Swan Variation" from Swan Lake | 4th runner-up | Previously Miss Teenage California 2007 | |
| 2010 | Arianna Afsar | San Diego | 19 | Miss San Diego County | Vocal, "I (Who Have Nothing)" | Top 10 | Previously Miss California's Outstanding Teen 2005 1st runner-up at Miss America's Outstanding Teen 2005 pageant Top 36 contestant on American Idol's 8th season Was cast as Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton in the Chicago production of Hamilton | |
| 2009 | Kristy Cavinder | Orange | 21 | Miss Yosemite Valley | Ballet en Pointe, "The Slave Maiden Variation" from Le Corsaire | 1st runner-up | Preliminary Talent Award | |
| 2008 | Jackie Geist | Vacaville | 22 | Miss Hollywood | Ballet en Pointe, "The Dying Swan" | Top 7 | ||
| 2007 | Melissa Chaty | Ukiah | 24 | Miss North Coast | Operatic Vocal, "The Jewel Song" from Faust | Top 8 | Previously Miss Teenage California 2003 | |
| 2006 | Jacquelynne Fontaine | Moorpark | 24 | Miss Santa Barbara County | Operatic Vocal, "Vissi d'arte" | Top 10 | Preliminary Talent Award | |
| 2005 | Dustin-Leigh Konzelman | Carlsbad | 23 | Miss San Diego | Fiddle, "Twelfth Street Rag" | Non-finalist Talent Award Preliminary Talent Award | Contestant on The Amazing Race 10 with Kandice Pelletier, Miss New York 2005 | |
| 2004 | Veena Goel | Laguna Hills | 22 | Miss Southland | Jazz Dance, "Hot Honey Rag" from Chicago | 4th runner-up | Preliminary Talent Award | Contestant at National Sweetheart 2003 pageant |
| 2003 | Nicole Lamarche | Berkeley | 24 | Miss San Francisco | Vocal, "At This Moment" | 4th runner-up | Final Night Swimsuit Award Preliminary Swimsuit Award | Contestant at National Sweetheart 2001 pageant as Miss Arizona |
| 2002 | Jennifer Glover | Castro Valley | 23 | Miss Contra Costa County | Contemporary Vocal, "A New Life" from Jekyll & Hyde | Represented the United States at Miss International 1999 as Miss USA Previously Miss California USA 2001 | ||
| 2001 | Stephanie Baldwin | Fullerton | 23 | Miss Northern California Regional | Vocal, "Time to Say Goodbye" | Top 20 | ||
| 2000 | Rita Ng | Tracy | 22 | Miss Los Altos | Classical Piano, "Sonata Appassionata" | 2nd runner-up | Miss America Scholar Award Preliminary Talent Award | |
| 1999 | MaryAnne Sapio | Rohnert Park | 21 | Miss Gavilan Hills | Tap Dance, "Go Daddy-O" | Non-finalist Talent Award | ||
| 1998 | Danielle Coney | Santa Clara | 21 | Miss Gavilan Hills | Vocal, "A Piece of Sky" from Yentl | Non-finalist Talent Award Waterford Business Scholarship | ||
| 1997 | Rebekah Ann Keller | Lakewood | 22 | Miss Los Angeles County | Vocal, "Someone Like You" from Jekyll & Hyde | 4th runner-up | Preliminary Swimsuit Award | Later Miss California USA 2000 |
| 1996 | Lyndsay Kahler | Orange | 22 | Miss City of Orange | Vocal, "Where Is It Written?" from Yentl | |||
| 1995 | Tiffany Stoker | Clovis | 21 | Miss Clovis | Vocal, "Think of Me" from The Phantom of the Opera | 3rd runner-up | Preliminary Swimsuit Award | Previously America's Junior Miss 1992 |
| 1994 | Jennifer Hanson | La Habra | 21 | Miss Garden Grove | Vocal, "Since I Fell for You" | Non-finalist Talent Award | ||
| 1993 | Lisa Michelle Duncan | Tulare | 21 | Miss Tulare County | Character Ballet, "Turkey in the Straw" | Preliminary Swimsuit Award | ||
| 1992 | Patricia Northrup | Agoura Hills | 23 | Miss Los Angeles County | Vocal Medley | Pilot for American Airlines Judge for the Miss America 2001 pageant | ||
| 1991 | Paige Adams | Hemet | 22 | Miss Los Angeles County | Vocal, "Some Day My Prince Will Come" | Previously Alaska's Junior Miss 1986 Judge for the Miss America 2008 pageant | ||
| 1990 | Maria Ostapiej | La Mesa | 24 | Miss San Diego North County | Vocal Medley, "Phantom of the Opera" & "Angel of Music" | Non-finalist Talent Award | ||
| 1989 | Wendy Berry | San Pedro | 22 | Miss Centinela Valley | Classical Ballet, "The Black Swan" from Swan Lake | Professor at Yale University | ||
| 1988 | Marlise Ricardos | San Pedro | 26 | Miss Lomita | Dramatic Vocal, "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Misérables | 3rd runner-up | ||
| 1987 | Simone Stephens | Cerritos | 25 | Miss El Camino | Stand-up Comedy | |||
| 1986 | Lisa Kahre | Salinas | 19 | Miss San Ramon Valley | Flute, "Carnival of Venice" | Non-finalist Talent Award | ||
| 1985 | Lisa Ryan | Santa Cruz | 23 | Miss San Mateo County | Popular Vocal, "Once in my Lifetime" | Previously named Miss California 1982 when the original winner, Debra Maffett, won the Miss America 1983 pageant Became the first titleholder to hold a state title twice | ||
| 1984 | Donna Grace Cherry Deitering, Debra Maddox, "The Miss America Pageant's Influence on the Self-Construction of its 1985 Contestants" (2001-12-1). Master of Arts Thesis. University of Nebraska at Omaha. | Northridge | 24 | Miss West Los Angeles | Vocal Impressions" | |||
| 1983 | Shari Moskau | Mission Viejo | 19 | Miss Saddleback Valley | Popular Vocal, "Greatest Love of All" | |||
| 1982 | Lisa Ryan | Santa Cruz | 20 | Miss Tulare County | colspan=3 | |||
| Later Miss California 1985 | ||||||||
| Debra Maffett | Anaheim | 25 | Miss Anaheim | Popular Vocal, "Come In From the Rain" | Winner | Preliminary Swimsuit Award Preliminary Talent Award | ||
| 1981 | Cheryl Vancleave | Riverside | 20 | Miss Los Angeles County | Country Vocal Medley, "I Was Country When Country Wasn't Cool" & "You're Lookin' at Country" | Later married Frank Kalil Mother of Ryan Kalil and Matt Kalil | ||
| 1980 | Robin Brooks | Elverta | 23 | Miss Fullerton | Vocal Medley, "America the Beautiful" & "Battle Hymn of the Republic" | |||
| 1979 | Deanna Rae Fogarty | Azusa | 22 | Miss Azusa | Vocal, "Cabaret" | |||
| 1978 | Christine Acton | Chula Vista | 23 | Miss San Bernardino County | Flute / Piccolo, "Hungarian Peasant Suite" | Non-finalist Talent Award | ||
| 1977 | Connie Lee Haugen | Redlands | 24 | Miss San Bernardino County | Vocal, "Nobody Does It Like Me" from Seesaw | Top 10 | ||
| 1976 | Linda Mouron | Orange | 19 | Miss Orange County | Tap Dance, "Puttin' On the Ritz" | 3rd runner-up | ||
| 1975 | Janet Carr | San Gabriel | 21 | Miss Pomona Valley | Vocal, "They Call the Wind Maria" from Paint Your Wagon | 2nd runner-up | Preliminary Swimsuit Award | |
| 1974 | Lucianne Buchanan | Claremont | 21 | Miss Pomona Valley | Harp, "Concerto in B Flat" | 1st runner-up | Preliminary Swimsuit Award | Assumed title when the original winner, Alice Tobler, resigned due to mononucleosis |
| 1973 | Susan Shipley | Hillsborough | 21 | Miss San Joaquin County | Piano, "Malaguena" | Top 10 | ||
| 1972 | Diane Wagner | Daly City | 20 | Miss San Mateo County | Ballet, "Swan Lake" | |||
| 1971 | Carolyn Stoner | Belmont | 18 | Miss San Mateo County | Gymnastic Ballet, "Malaguena" | Preliminary Swimsuit Award | ||
| 1970 | Karin Kascher | Castro Valley | 18 | Miss Hayward | Violin, "Méditation" | Non-finalist Talent Award | ||
| 1969 | Susan Anton | Yucaipa | 18 | Miss Redlands | Vocal, "Get Happy" & "Put On a Happy Face" | 2nd runner-up | Actress best known for her role as "Susan Williams" in the various Stop Susan Williams!-related television series and | |
| 1968 | Sharon Terrill | Torrance | 21 | Miss Torrance | Dramatic Reading, "Little Word, Little White Bird" by Carl Sandburg | Non-finalist Talent Award | ||
| 1967 | Karen Pursell | Lindsay | 22 | Miss Fresno County | Vocal, "Much More" from The Fantasticks | |||
| 1966 | Charlene Dallas | Danville | 19 | Miss Contra Costa County | Piano, "Toccata" by Khachaturian | 1st runner-up | Preliminary Swimsuit Award Preliminary Talent Award | Assumed title when the original winner, Donna Danzer, resigned for school and personal reasons |
| 1965 | Sandra Lynne Becker | Covina | 18 | Miss Los Angeles County | Semi-classical Vocal, "Make Believe" | Non-finalist Talent Award | ||
| 1964 | Sherrie Raap | Fremont | 18 | Miss Oakland | Jazz Baton Dance & Acrobatics | Preliminary Swimsuit Award | ||
| 1963 | Wendy Douglas | Sacramento | Miss Sacramento | Vocal, "Summertime" | Top 10 | |||
| 1962 | Pamela Gamble | Carmel | 18 | Miss Monterey County | Classical Jazz Interpretive Dance | |||
| 1961 | Susan Henryson | Fresno | 19 | Miss Fresno County | Vocal, "You've Got to See Momma Every Night" | Top 10 | Miss Congeniality Preliminary Talent Award | |
| 1960 | Suzanne Reamo | La Mesa | 20 | Miss San Diego | Vocal, "Love is Where You Find It" | 1st runner-up | ||
| 1959 | Susan Bronson | San Lorenzo | 19 | Miss Southern Alameda County | Modern Dance, "An American in Spain" | 3rd runner-up | ||
| 1958 | Sandra Jennings | Riverside | Miss Riverside | Piano, "Clair de Lune" | 3rd runner-up | Preliminary Swimsuit Award | ||
| 1957 | Lorna Anderson | Sacramento | Miss Sacramento | Accordion, "Dark Eyes" | 3rd runner-up | |||
| 1956 | Joan Beckett | Sacramento | Miss Sacramento | Dramatic Sketch, "A Dream: Faith Over Atheistic Sciences" | Top 10 | Preliminary Swimsuit Award | ||
| 1955 | Barbara Harris | Santa Cruz | Miss Watsonville | Vocal, "Over the Rainbow" | ||||
| 1954 | Lee Meriwether | San Francisco | 19 | Miss San Francisco | Dramatic Monologue from Riders to the Sea | Winner | Preliminary Swimsuit Award | Actress best known as Betty Jones in the 1970s television series Barnaby Jones |
| 1953 | Patricia Johns | Fresno | Miss Fresno | Dramatic Monologue from The Country Girl | Top 10 | Preliminary Swimsuit Award | ||
| 1952 | Jeanne Shores | Azusa | Miss Alhambra | Dramatic Monologue | 2nd runner-up | Preliminary Swimsuit Award | ||
| 1951 | Patricia Lehman | Sacramento | Miss Sacramento | Piano | ||||
| 1950 | Joanne Durant | San Diego | Miss San Diego | Vocal / Poetry Recitation, "Alice Blue Gown" | Top 16 | Preliminary Swimsuit Award | ||
| 1949 | Jone Pedersen | Santa Rosa | Miss Sonoma County | Dramatic Monologue, "You Will Come Back" | 4th runner-up | Preliminary Swimsuit Award | ||
| 1948 | Reba Watterson | Stockton | Miss Stockton | |||||
| 1947 | Laura Emery | Salinas | 18 | Miss California | Vocal, "So Long for so Long" | 4th runner-up | Multiple California representatives Contestants competed under local title at Miss America pageant | |
| Marilyn Davidson | Los Angeles | Miss Los Angeles County | Vocal / Dress Design, "A Sunday Kind of Love" | |||||
| 1946 | Marilyn Buferd | Los Angeles | 21 | Miss Wilshire District | Dramatic Monologue from Accent on Youth | Winner | Preliminary Swimsuit Award | |
| 1945 | Polly Ellis | Tarzana | Miss California | Vocal, "Ragtime Cowboy Joe" | Top 13 | Preliminary Talent Award | Multiple California representatives Contestants competed under local title at Miss America pageant | |
| Phyllis Mathis | San Diego | Miss San Diego | Hula | 1st runner-up | ||||
| 1944 | Shirley Ballard | Los Angeles | Top 12 | |||||
| 1943 | Jean Bartel | Los Angeles | 19 | Vocal, "Night and Day" | Winner | Preliminary Swimsuit Award Preliminary Talent Award | ||
| 1942 | Lucille Lambert | Hollywood | Miss Hollywood | Vocal, "Embraceable You" | 4th runner-up | |||
| 1941 | Rosemary LaPlanche | Los Angeles | 18 | Dance | Winner | Preliminary Swimsuit Award | ||
| 1940 | 17 | Dance | 1st runner-up | Preliminary Swimsuit Award | ||||
| 1939 | Marguerite Skliris | San Francisco | Miss San Francisco | Dramatic Monologue, "The Poison Scene" from Romeo and Juliet | 3rd runner-up | Preliminary Talent Award | ||
| 1938 | Claire James | Los Angeles | Miss Los Angeles | Dance | 1st runner-up | |||
| 1937 | Virginia Dale | Hollywood | 20 | Miss Hollywood | Vocal / Dance | 3rd runner-up (tie) | Preliminary Talent Award | Sister of Miss North Carolina 1941, Joey Augusta Paxton |
| 1936 | Phyllis Dobson | Hollywood | Miss Hollywood | Drama | 1st runner-up | Preliminary Talent Award | ||
| 1935 | Virginia Donham | San Francisco | Miss San Francisco | Vocal, "Chlo-e" & "I Ain't Got Nobody" | Top 12 | |||
| 1934 | No national pageant was held | |||||||
| 1933 | Blanche MacDonald | Los Angeles | Miss Venus de Milo | 2nd runner-up | ||||
| 1932 | No national pageants were held | |||||||
| 1931 | ||||||||
| 1930 | ||||||||
| 1929 | ||||||||
| 1928 | ||||||||
| 1927 | Ruby Smith | Oakland | Miss Oakland | Top 15 | Multiple California representatives Contestants competed under local title at national pageant | |||
| Naoma Farrand | San Francisco | Miss San Francisco | ||||||
| Bertha Weizel | Los Angeles | Miss Santa Cruz | Top 15 | |||||
| Louise Heathman | Los Angeles | Miss Southern California | ||||||
| 1926 | Eleanor Twohig | San Francisco | Miss San Francisco | |||||
| 1925 | Fay Lanphier | Oakland | 19 | Miss California | Winner | Multiple California representatives Contestants competed under local title at national pageant | ||
| Adrienne Dore | Los Angeles | Miss Los Angeles | 1st runner-up | |||||
| Edyth Flyn | San Francisco | Miss San Francisco | ||||||
| Yetta Haber | Santa Cruz | Miss Santa Cruz | ||||||
| 1924 | Lillian Knight | Los Angeles | Miss Los Angeles | 3rd runner-up | ||||
| Fay Lanphier | Santa Cruz | 18 | Miss Santa Cruz | 2nd runner-up | ||||
| Irma Frazier | Oakland | Miss Oakland | ||||||
| 1923 | Violet Regal | San Francisco | Miss San Francisco | |||||
| 1922 | Katherine Grant | Los Angeles | Miss Los Angeles | |||||
| Tanssia Zara | San Francisco | Miss San Francisco | ||||||
| 1921 | ||||||||
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