California Ground Snow Load by County and City

California sets no ground snow load at state level, so every figure comes from a county or city building department. Twelve figures from California counties and cities are set out below, each with the ordinance or code amendment it was printed in. 19 states work this way, which is why a search for one California figure comes back with several different answers from several different pages, all of them correct for the place they were written for. twelve California figures, running from 29 psf at Nevada County to 542 psf at Nevada County, every one of them quoted from the document it was printed in. Nationally 235 figures were read across 33 states.

The city or county building department, with any change filed with the California Building Standards Commission: each city and county sets its own figure by amending the state code on a local finding. In its own words: “Except as provided in subdivision (c) and in Section 17922.6, in adopting the ordinances or regulations pursuant to Section 17958, a city or county may make those changes or modifications in the requirements contained in the provisions published in the California Building Standards Code and the other regulations adopted pursuant to Section 17922, including, but not limited to, green building standards, as it determines, pursuant to the provisions of Section 17958.7, are reasonably necessary because of local climatic, geological, or topographical conditions.”

Part of California is a case study area, meaning the published document expressly declines to give those places a figure and sends the designer back to the local building department for one. 16 states carry a rule like this, and it is the commonest reason a search for a single number comes back empty. The rule reads: “The minimum ground snow load used to determine the design loads for buildings and other structures shall be specified by the El Dorado County Building Official. The Building Safety Division shall establish and enforce the snow load design criteria of El Dorado County.”

The figure moves with elevation in California, which is the hardest case for a reader: two houses a mile apart and a thousand feet apart take different numbers, and 13 states are keyed this way. The published California figures run from 29 psf to 542 psf.

California Building Standards Commission adopts California Building Standards Code. California adopted it as written. The adopting rule reads: “The building standards contained in the model codes described in Section 18916 and adopted by reference into the California Building Standards Code and any other building standards adopted into the California Building Standards Code shall apply to all occupancies throughout the state and shall become effective 180 days after publication in the California Building Standards Code by the California Building Standards Commission or at a later date after publication established by the commission.”

A ground snow load is a weight per unit area and not a depth, and the two are joined only by the density of the snow on the day, which is why the published documents give the load and leave the depth out. Wet spring snow and dry January snow of the same depth are different weights on the same roof. The city or county building department, with any change filed with the California Building Standards Commission works in loads for that reason, and so does every figure set out below.

A California figure for an address the documents below do not cover comes from The city or county building department, with any change filed with the California Building Standards Commission. The document behind it is Health and Safety Code Section 17958.7, published by California Building Standards Commission, read on September 23, 2026. It establishes the point this way: “Except as provided in subdivision (c) and in Section 17922.6, the governing body of a city or county, before making any modifications or changes pursuant to Section 17958.5, shall make an express finding that such modifications or changes are reasonably necessary because of local climatic, geological, or topographical conditions.”

14 of 50: Connecticut, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont, Wisconsin. The other 36 split into 17 that adopt the national code without a snow amendment and 19 that leave every figure to a county or city building department. That is the single most useful fact about this subject and no one state's own website carries it.