Miss California
| Formation | 1924 |
|---|---|
| Type | Scholarship pageant |
| Headquarters | Fresno |
| Location | |
| Membership | Miss America |
Official language | English |
Key people | Adam Smith, Marissa Honey-Plata (State Directors) |
| Website | Official website |
The Miss California competition selects the representative for the state of California in the Miss America competition. Six women have gone on to win Miss America (but none since 1983).
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. It has been held in Visalia, California since 2023.
On January 9, 2026, the Miss California Organization announced that the Miss California competition will return to Fresno, California at the iconic Saroyan Theatre where the pageant was held from 1994-2022.
Rachel Axt of Clovis was crowned Miss California 2025 on June 21, 2025, at the Visalia Convention Center in Visalia, California. She competed for the title of Miss America 2026 in September 2025.