How many people participate in California LifeLine?

The 2025 annual report lists about 1,794,820 California LifeLine participants in December 2025. A separate county sheet lists 1,732,901 participants for county-level reporting.

How many eligible households are in California?

The ACS-based data set used for the plan shows 4,387,085 eligible California households.

What is the California LifeLine participation rate?

Using March 2026 subscriber data and ACS eligibility estimates, the participation rate is about 39%.

What is the biggest California LifeLine qualifying program?

CalFresh / SNAP is the largest program-based path in the 2025 annual report, followed by Medi-Cal.

Program statistics - updated July 2026

California LifeLine statistics for 2026

A data-driven snapshot of California LifeLine participation, qualifying programs, county concentration, and the combined federal plus state benefit.

TL;DR

California has about 1,794,820 LifeLine participants, including 1,714,350 wireless participants. Eligible households can receive up to $28.25/month where the selected plan supports the full combined benefit.

4,387,085

Eligible households

ACS-based eligible household estimate.

1,714,389

March subscribers

USAC March 2026 subscriber count used in the plan.

39.0%

Participation rate

Subscribers divided by estimated eligible households.

$339

Annual savings

Maximum annual value of the combined monthly support.

March 2026 TPA operational snapshot

The California LifeLine third-party administrator reported a separate operational count for active subscribers on March 1, 2026. This is a different reporting cut than the USAC/ACS participation-rate data above.

1,874,244

Active subscribers

TPA active subscriber count as of March 1, 2026.

1,800,713

Wireless

96.1% of active TPA-reported subscribers.

73,531

Wireline

3.9% of active TPA-reported subscribers.

5.2%

Growth from Dec. 2025

Change from the Dec. 1, 2025 active-subscriber total.

Provider concentration in the TPA report

The March 2026 TPA deck lists the largest California LifeLine service providers by active subscriber count. These are provider administration counts, not plan-quality rankings.

Wireless provider	Active subscribers
1. TruConnect	702,995
2. AmeriMex dba SafetyNet Wireless	232,869
3. Verizon Value, Inc. fka Tracfone Wireless, Inc. The TPA slide lists the legal/operator name, not the consumer SafeLink brand name.	232,078
4. AirVoice Wireless dba AirTalk Wireless	189,657
5. Gen Mobile	93,978

Wireline provider	Active subscribers
1. Pacific Bell dba AT&T California	44,873
2. Frontier Communications dba Frontier CA	11,413
3. Charter Communications dba Time Warner Cable	5,931
4. Cox Communications	3,285
5. ConnectTo Communications, Inc.	2,212

Cliq Mobile still recommends comparing coverage, device terms, application flow, and current plan details before choosing a provider; high subscriber count alone is not a recommendation.

Qualification paths in the annual report

Program	Participants	Wireless	Wireline
CalFresh / SNAP	1,318,559	1,279,196	39,363
Medi-Cal	319,606	302,623	16,983
Supplemental Security Income (SSI)	19,751	14,770	4,981
Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)	13,929	13,848	81
Federal Public Housing Assistance	2,359	1,523	836
Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)	2,004	926	1,078

Need the full eligibility path? Use the California LifeLine income limits and qualifying programs guide.

TPA application mix

In the TPA enrollment-method snapshot, 93.5% of enrollments qualified through a program path and 6.5% qualified by income. Within program-based enrollment, CalFresh and Medi-Cal accounted for the largest shares.

Top counties by participant count

County participation is concentrated in large population centers, but every county has active enrollment.

See all 58 counties ->

1. Los Angeles County

509,730

29.4% of the county-sheet total.

2. Riverside County

137,696

7.9% of the county-sheet total.

3. San Bernardino County

135,769

7.8% of the county-sheet total.

4. San Diego County

118,119

6.8% of the county-sheet total.

5. Orange County

93,736

5.4% of the county-sheet total.

6. Sacramento County

82,173

4.7% of the county-sheet total.

7. Kern County

65,721

3.8% of the county-sheet total.

8. Fresno County

65,695

3.8% of the county-sheet total.

Regional view

Region	Participants	Tribal participants
Los Angeles County	478,119	13
Inland Empire	385,492	23
San Francisco Bay Area	193,564	3
Southern San Joaquin Valley	166,963	34
Superior California	144,302	140
San Diego County	141,246	401
Orange County	101,924	6
Northern San Joaquin Valley	94,455	46
Central Coast	58,349	20
North Coast	30,357	112

Top ZIP codes by active subscriber count

The TPA deck also identifies high-volume ZIP codes. The February 2026 leaders are concentrated in Riverside, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Kern, and Imperial County areas.

#1 ZIP

92553

15,174 subscribers

#2 ZIP

92557

12,032 subscribers

#3 ZIP

92571

11,802 subscribers

#4 ZIP

92570

11,509 subscribers

#5 ZIP

90044

10,415 subscribers

#6 ZIP

92345

10,246 subscribers

#7 ZIP

92530

10,203 subscribers

#8 ZIP

92335

9,768 subscribers

#9 ZIP

92376

9,764 subscribers

#10 ZIP

93535

9,180 subscribers

Application and renewal friction

For September 2025 through February 2026, the TPA reported 2,323,371 total form processes, with 73.1% qualified or renewed.

Top enrollment denial reasons

8-9: Enrollment application was not submitted
Hard denial
54,678
6-22: Documentation submitted does not meet eligibility guidelines
Correctible denial
49,775
5-23: Eligibility documentation violates program rules as presumptively fraudulent
Hard denial
15,704

Top renewal denial reasons

22-15: Initial renewal form not returned by the due date
Soft denial
204,115
24-8: Second chance renewal form not returned by the due date
Hard denial
166,148
24-9: Second chance form returned undeliverable
Hard denial
21,975

The biggest practical takeaway for applicants: submit the enrollment application, respond to document requests, and complete renewal forms before the due date.

Data sources

This page uses official California LifeLine program data, including CPUC California LifeLine Program statistics, May 11, 2026; CPUC California LifeLine Program 2025 Annual Report, final version; USAC Lifeline participation data, March 2026; California LifeLine TPA presentation to the ULTS Administrative Committee, March 17, 2026.

County-sheet totals and annual-report totals are different reporting cuts. The March 2026 TPA operational data is also labeled separately instead of forcing all reports into one number.