Silicon Valley is in a populous state.
Silicon Valley is a nickname for the southern portion of the San Francisco Bay Area , in the northern part of the U.S. state of California . The `` valley '' in its name refers to the Santa Clara Valley in Santa Clara County , which includes the city of San Jose and surrounding cities and towns , where the region has been traditionally centered . A U.S. state is a constituent political entity of the United States of America . States range in population from just under 600,000 ( Wyoming ) to over 39 million ( California ) , and in area from 1214 sqmi ( Rhode Island ) to 663268 sqmi ( Alaska ) .