California · Q1 2026
What California borrowers paid in mortgage closing costs in 2025, drawn from FFIEC HMDA filings across 707 lenders.
Published 2026-04-29.
California · headline
The gap between California's lowest- and highest-cost ranked lenders in 2025 was $10,679 on a typical loan — borrowers using OCMBC, Inc. paid roughly 237% more than borrowers using Citibank, National Association on similar loans.
Source: FFIEC HMDA 2025 (n=375,553)
In 2025, 707 mortgage lenders originated 375,553 reportable loans in California according to FFIEC HMDA data. The median borrower paid $7,820 in total loan costs. That is 84.3% above the national median across all 50 states and DC.
California's median total loan cost was $7,820, 84.3% above the national median of $4,242. On a typical loan, that translates to roughly $3,578 more than borrowers paid in the average state.
Citibank, National Association posted the lowest median total loan costs at $4,500, 42.5% below the California median. Across the ranked lenders, 12 earned an A grade against peer averages and 1 fell to D or F.
Lower bars = lower median total loan costs. Hover (or tap) bars for sample size and grade. Bar color groups lenders into cost quartiles.
Lenders below 30 records in California are excluded from this ranking. See full methodology.
Same 10 lenders as the chart above, ranked here by 2025 HMDA loan count.
| # | Lender | Median total cost | Median origination | Reports | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United Wholesale Mortgage | $9,539 | $3,988 | 48,499 | C |
| 2 | Rocket Mortgage | $5,226 | $2,890 | 42,151 | A |
| 3 | U.S. Bank National Association | $4,621 | $1,545 | 11,133 | A |
| 4 | JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. | $4,509 | $2,382 | 9,663 | A |
| 5 | Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. | $6,792 | $2,351 | 9,567 | A |
| 6 | Pennymac | $7,525 | $2,840 | 9,529 | A |
| 7 | loanDepot.com, LLC | $5,807 | $2,161 | 8,785 | A |
| 8 | CrossCountry Mortgage | $8,342 | $2,840 | 8,201 | A |
| 9 | Lennar Mortgage, LLC | $7,206 | $1,835 | 6,600 | A |
| 10 | Bank of America, National Association | $5,121 | $1,465 | 6,581 | A |
California median total loan cost
California borrowers paid a median $7,820 in total loan costs in 2025, based on 375,553 HMDA-reported loans across 707 lenders.
FFIEC HMDA 2025
Lender spread in California
In California, the gap between Citibank, National Association ($4,500 median) and OCMBC, Inc. ($15,179 median) was $10,679 on a typical 2025 loan.
FFIEC HMDA 2025
California vs. national
California closing costs ran 84.3% above the national median ($4,242) in 2025.
FFIEC HMDA 2025
The median origination charge in California was $3,000, with the typical lender clustering tightly around that figure. Discount points appeared on 46% of loans, with a median paid amount of $3,208 when present — meaningful enough that shoppers should ask whether quoted points actually buy down their rate cost-effectively. Lender credits offsetting closing costs were issued on 41% of loans, with a median credit of $743.
Avg $5,168
Median $3,208 when present
Median $743 when issued
HMDA itemizes origination, discount points, and lender credits. Title insurance, recording fees, and transfer tax (relevant in California) are not separately reported in HMDA — see our state benchmark page for those. See full methodology.
Related pages for California
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