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Data hub · California and the Bay Area

California child evaluation data, and who counted it.

School special-education counts, regional center caseloads and spending, CDC autism surveillance, state license files, and Census child population, gathered from official sources and updated as each agency publishes. Look up your area, or start from the question you have.

Public sources published12
Bay Area counties9
Regional centers21
School district profiles176
Last importOct 17, 2026
Your area

Look up your county or school district

Choose a Bay Area county, or enter an address to find its school district. School figures, the steps for a free assessment, and regional center services are one tab apart.

We send your address to the U.S. Census Bureau's geocoder to find its location, then match it to CDE district boundaries. We don't store or log it.

Students whose primary special-education category is autism2,2532025-26 school year · Census Day Oct 1, 2025California Department of Education
Students receiving special education9,3772025-26 school year · Census Day Oct 1, 2025California Department of Education
Share of special education under autism24.0%2025-26 school year · Census Day Oct 1, 2025

California overall: 23.3%

California Department of Education

What this measures: Counts students whose primary special-education eligibility category is reported by public schools on Census Day. It is not a count of all autistic children, not a clinical diagnosis count, and not a prevalence rate.

Students in the autism category, by school yearSan Francisco County, all public schools including charters
01,0002,0003,0004,0002022-232023-242024-252025-262,253
Show the numbers
PeriodSan Francisco County
2022-231,411
2023-241,537
2024-251,944
2025-262,253

Largest school districts by special-education enrollment, 2025-26

Full San Francisco County data: other categories, ages, every district California autism statistics
What each record counts

Five public records, five different questions

Each agency counts for its own purpose, so these figures never add up to one another and none of them is an autism rate for your county. Start from the question you have.

  1. CDC surveillance · ADDM

    How common is autism?

    CDC reviews health and school records for 8-year-olds in selected communities every two years.

    32.2per 1,000 eight-year-olds, across CDC's monitored communitiesSurveillance year 2022California's monitored communities: 53.1 per 1,000monitored communities only, not a statewide rate
  2. Public schools · CDE

    Who gets special education, and under which category?

    Every public school reports its students with an IEP to the state each October, by primary disability category.

    205,789California students whose primary special-education category is autism2025-26 school year · Census Day Oct 1, 2025Out of 883,862 students in special educationan eligibility category, not a diagnosis
  3. Regional centers · DDS

    Who gets free developmental services, and what is spent?

    California's 21 regional centers report monthly caseloads and yearly spending on purchased services to the Department of Developmental Services.

    518,652people of all ages served by California's regional centersCaseload at end of Sep 2026Early Start, under age 3: 56,572whole catchment areas, never split by county
  4. Licenses · CA Consumer Affairs

    How many licensed clinicians are there?

    The Department of Consumer Affairs publishes every psychologist, therapist and occupational therapist license each month.

    17,912psychologists with a current license and a California address of recordDCA licensee file, Oct 202627 licenses checked for 17 providers in our directorycounted where each person registered, which may be a home
  5. Population · Census ACS

    How many children live here?

    The Census Bureau's American Community Survey estimates population by age every year from a large household sample.

    8,632,796Californians under 18ACS 2020–2024 5-year estimateUnder 5: 2,165,923a survey estimate, with a margin of error
Browse by place

Counties, regional centers, and school districts

Each county page brings its school, regional center, license, and population figures together. Regional centers and school districts have their own pages, because their boundaries don't follow county lines.

Bay Area counties

California's 21 regional centers

Tri-Counties Regional CenterAlta California Regional CenterSan Andreas Regional CenterGolden Gate Regional CenterRedwood Coast Regional CenterKern Regional CenterSan Diego Regional CenterRegional Center of Orange CountyFar Northern Regional CenterRegional Center of the East BayInland Regional CenterCentral Valley Regional CenterValley Mountain Regional CenterNorth Bay Regional CenterHarbor Regional CenterFrank D. Lanterman Regional CenterSan Gabriel/Pomona Regional CenterWestside Regional CenterSouth Central Los Angeles Regional CenterEastern Los Angeles Regional CenterNorth Los Angeles County Regional Center
Catchment areas from the California Department of Developmental Services. Select an area to open that regional center.

Highlighted centers serve at least part of the Bay Area.

Compare all 21 side by side Autism diagnoses on record, by center

Bay Area school districts

Every school district and county office of education in the nine counties has a profile: how to ask it for a free assessment, its special-education counts, and whether it decides on evaluations within the 60 days the law allows. These are the 12 largest by special-education enrollment in 2025-26.

All 176 Bay Area districts and county offices
Sources

Data describes a community, not your child.

Every figure comes from a public government file. We download it, check its layout and, where the agency publishes them, its totals, and show withheld cells as withheld, never as zero. We don't combine sources into new rates.

How we handle public dataWhat we won't do with itImport status for each source
CDC surveillance · ADDM
Public schools · CDE
Regional centers · DDS
Licenses · CA Consumer Affairs
Population · Census ACS
Next steps

Statistics can't tell you about your child.

If you have questions about your child's development, an evaluation is how you get answers. Start with what you're noticing, or with the free assessments California schools and regional centers must offer.

Find your starting pointWrite a school assessment requestWhich evaluation does my child need?What an autism evaluation involvesBay Area evaluation guides
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