San Diego County, CA

County

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2024 Population
3.29M
US Senator
Alex Padilla
Democratic Party
US Senator
Adam Schiff
Democratic Party
2024 Median Age
37.3
0.539% 1-year increase
2024 Poverty Rate
10.3%
0.712% 1-year decrease
2024 Median Household Income
$106,268
3.89% 1-year growth
2024 Median Property Value
$854,700
7.97% 1-year growth
2024 Employed Population
1.59M
0.616% 1-year growth

About

None of the households in San Diego County, CA reported speaking a non-English language at home as their primary shared language. This does not consider the potential multi-lingual nature of households, but only the primary self-reported language spoken by all members of the household.

90.7% of the residents in San Diego County, CA are U.S. citizens.

The largest universities in San Diego County, CA are University of California-San Diego (12,624 degrees awarded in 2023), San Diego State University (10,849 degrees), and Ashford University (8,499 degrees).

In 2024, the median property value in San Diego County, CA was $854,700, and the homeownership rate was 54.6%.

Most people in San Diego County, CA drove alone to work, and the average commute time was 25.5 minutes. The average car ownership in San Diego County, CA was 2 cars per household.

San Diego County, CA borders Imperial County, CA, Orange County, CA, and Riverside County, CA.

About the photo: Top view of the Torrey Pines Beach
Photo by DARSHAN SIMHA
United StatesCaliforniaSan Diego-Carlsbad, CA

Population & Diversity

San Diego County, CA is home to a population of 3.29M people, from which 90.7% are citizens. As of 2024, 22.7% of San Diego County, CA residents were born outside of the country (747k people).

In 2024, there were 2.94 times more White (Non-Hispanic) residents (1.39M people) in San Diego County, CA than any other race or ethnicity. There were 474k Two Races Including Other (Hispanic) and 397k Asian (Non-Hispanic) residents, the second and third most common ethnic groups.

Population & Diversity

Citizenship

90.7%
2024 Citizenship
90.9%
2023 Citizenship

As of 2024, 90.7% of San Diego County, CA residents were US citizens, which is lower than the national average of 93.2%. In 2023, the percentage of US citizens in San Diego County, CA was 90.9%, meaning that the rate of citizenship has been decreasing.

The following chart shows US citizenship percentages in San Diego County, CA compared to that of it's neighboring and parent geographies.

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Diversity

Race and Ethnicity

The 3 largest ethnic groups in San Diego County, CA
  1. White (Non-Hispanic)
    1.39M ± 2.4k
  2. Two Races Including Other (Hispanic)
    474k ± 8.95k
  3. Asian (Non-Hispanic)
    397k ± 2.88k
34.6%
Hispanic Population
1.14M people

In 2024, there were 2.94 times more White (Non-Hispanic) residents (1.39M people) in San Diego County, CA than any other race or ethnicity. There were 474k Two Races Including Other (Hispanic) and 397k Asian (Non-Hispanic) residents, the second and third most common ethnic groups.

34.6% of the people in San Diego County, CA are hispanic (1.14M people).

The following chart shows the 8 races represented in San Diego County, CA as a share of the total population.

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Global Diversity

The PUMS dataset is not available at the County level, so we are showing data for California.
Most Common Origin
  1. Mexico
    3,862,617 ± 45,816 people
  2. Philippines
    824,246 ± 22,054 people
  3. China
    687,951 ± 20,184 people

In 2023, the most common birthplace for the foreign-born residents of California was Mexico, the natal country of 3,862,617 California residents, followed by Philippines with 824,246 and China with 687,951.

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Foreign-Born Population

22.7%
2024 Foreign-Born Population
747k people
22.4%
2023 Foreign-Born Population
736k people

As of 2024, 22.7% of San Diego County, CA residents (747k people) were born outside of the United States, which is approximately the same as the national average of 14%. In 2023, the percentage of foreign-born citizens in San Diego County, CA was 22.4%, meaning that the rate has been increasing.

The following chart shows the percentage of foreign-born residents in San Diego County, CA compared to that of it's neighboring and parent geographies.

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Military

Veterans

Most Common Service Period
  1. Gulf War (2001-)
    72,407 ± 2,289
  2. Vietnam
    45,781 ± 1,506
  3. Gulf War (1990s)
    29,836 ± 1,384

San Diego County, CA has a large population of military personnel who served in Gulf War (2001-), 1.58 times greater than any other conflict.

The chart shows the distribution of veterans by conflict in San Diego County, CA.

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Economy

The economy of San Diego County, CA employs 1.59M people. In 2024, the largest industries in San Diego County, CA were Health Care & Social Assistance (207,950 people), Professional, Scientific, & Technical Services (195,480 people), and Manufacturing (156,989 people), and the highest paying industries were Management of Companies & Enterprises ($109,666), Professional, Scientific, & Technical Services ($100,721), and Utilities ($100,712).

Employment

Occupations

1.59M
2024 Value
± 11,189
0.616%
1 Year growth
± 0.979%

From 2023 to 2024, employment in San Diego County, CA grew at a rate of 0.616%, from 1.58M employees to 1.59M employees.

The most common job groups, by number of people living in San Diego County, CA, are Management Occupations (194,056 people), Office & Administrative Support Occupations (148,286 people), and Sales & Related Occupations (145,933 people). This chart illustrates the share breakdown of the primary jobs held by residents of San Diego County, CA.

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Unemployment Insurance Claims

Data is only available at the state level. Showing data for California.

This chart shows weekly unemployment insurance claims in California (not-seasonally adjusted) compared with the four states with the most similar impact.

The most recent data point uses Advance State Claims data, which can be revised in subsequent weeks.

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Industries

Employment by Industries

1.59M
2024 Value
± 11,189
0.616%
1 Year growth
± 0.979%

From 2023 to 2024, employment in San Diego County, CA grew at a rate of 0.616%, from 1.58M employees to 1.59M employees.

The most common employment sectors for those who live in San Diego County, CA, are Health Care & Social Assistance (207,950 people), Professional, Scientific, & Technical Services (195,480 people), and Manufacturing (156,989 people). This chart shows the share breakdown of the primary industries for residents of San Diego County, CA, though some of these residents may live in San Diego County, CA and work somewhere else. Census data is tagged to a residential address, not a work address.

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Median Earnings by Industry

$64,456
Median earning men ± $877
$48,221
Median earning women ± $522

The industries with the best median earnings for men in 2024 are Public Administration ($100,882), Information ($96,713), and Manufacturing ($91,530).

The industries with the best median earnings for women in 2024 are Public Administration ($71,533), Professional, Scientific, & Management, & Administrative & Waste Management Services ($70,195), and Information ($65,868).

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Employment by Industry Sector

Data is only available at the state level. Showing data for California.
Y-Axis
2.57%
Year-over-year growth
Employment change between February 2022 and February 2023

As of February 2023, there are 17.9M people employed in California. This represents a 2.57% increase in employment when compared to February 2022.

Right after the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, during April 2020, a general dip can be seen across industry sectors, resulting in an overall decline in employment by 14%.

The following chart shows monthly employment numbers for each industry sector in California.

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Establishments by Size

The industries with the most establishments
  1. 11,785
    Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services
  2. 6,206
    Health Care and Social Assistance
  3. 5,945
    Real Estate and Rental and Leasing

The visualization shows the distribution of establishments by industry and by size according to the number of employees.

The visualization shows the number of establishments and its share across establishment sizes.

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Payroll by Industry Sector

The industries with the highest total annual payroll
  1. $25.3M
    Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services
  2. $14M
    Health Care and Social Assistance
  3. $8.74M
    Manufacturing

The chart shows the total annual payroll and the average annual payroll by industry.

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Civics

In the 2024 presidential election, the popular vote in California went to Kamala Harris with 58.5% of the vote. The runner-up was Donald J. Trump (38.3%), followed by Robert Kennedy (1.25%).

Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff are the senators currently representing the state of California. In the United States, senators are elected to 6-year terms with the terms for individual senators staggered.

California is currently represented by 52 members in the U.S. house, and members of the House of Representives are elected to 2-year terms.

Presidential Elections

Voting results are not available for San Diego County, CA. Showing the available data for California.
2024 Election Results
  1. Kamala Harris (58.5%)
    Democratic Party
  2. Donald J. Trump (38.3%)
    Republican Party
  3. Robert Kennedy (1.25%)
    Independent Party

In the 2024 presidential election, the popular vote in California went to Kamala Harris with 58.5% of the vote. The runner-up was Donald J. Trump (38.3%), followed by Robert Kennedy (1.25%).

The following chart shows the popular vote results in California for each registered party from 1976 to 2024.

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Senator Elections

US Senators from California

Senatorial voting results are only available at the state level. Showing data for California.
Alex Padilla
Senator from California3
Assumed office on January 20, 2021
Appointed to the seat following the resignation of Kamala Harris, who had become Vice President of the United States.
Adam Schiff
Senator from California1
Assumed office on December 8, 2024
Elected to the seat to succeed Laphonza Butler, who had been appointed to the seat following the death of Dianne Feinstein.

Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff are the senators currently representing California.

In the United States, senators are elected to 6-year terms with the terms for individual senators staggered.

The following chart shows elected senators in California over time, excluding special elections, colored by their political party.

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Education

In 2023, universities in San Diego County, CA awarded 80,536 degrees. The student population of San Diego County, CA in 2023 is skewed towards women, with 134,962 male students and 180,011 female students.

Most students graduating from Universities in San Diego County, CA are White (25,742 and 33.9%), Hispanic or Latino (25,242 and 33.2%), Asian (9,770 and 12.9%), and Black or African American (6,048 and 7.96%).

The largest universities in San Diego County, CA by number of degrees awarded are University of California-San Diego (12,624 and 15.7%), San Diego State University (10,849 and 13.5%), and Ashford University (8,499 and 10.6%).

The most popular majors in San Diego County, CA are General Business Administration & Management (7,489 and 9.3%), Liberal Arts & Sciences (5,735 and 7.12%), and General Psychology (3,502 and 4.35%).

The median tuition costs in San Diego County, CA are $24,500 for private four year colleges, and $5,742 and $17,622 respectively, for public four year colleges for in-state students and out-of-state students.

Admissions & Enrollments

Applicants, Admissions & Enrolled

University
Measure

In 2023 in San Diego County, CA, the percentage of applicants admitted was 35.1%, while the percentage of admitted who enrolled was 20.4%. The number of students enrolled in 2023 was 314,973 (42.8% men and 57.2% women).

The line chart  shows the evolution of the percentage of applicants admitted, admitted who enrolled or the number of students enrolled according to the option selected in the upper button.

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Enrollments by Gender and Races

Universities

In 2023 there were 314,973 students enrolled in San Diego County, CA, 42.8% men and 57.2% women.

By race, the largest number of students enrolled was concentrated in Hispanic or Latino with 110,189 records, of which 59.5% were women and 40.5% men.

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Completions

Concentrations

Most Common
  1. General Business Administration & Management
    3,646 degrees awarded
  2. General Psychology
    2,146 degrees awarded
  3. Computer Science
    968 degrees awarded

In 2023, the most common concentation for Bachelors Degree recipients in San Diego County, CA was General Business Administration & Management with 3,646 degrees awarded.

This visualization illustrates the percentage of students graduating with a Bachelors Degree from schools in San Diego County, CA according to their major.

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Universities

Gender
Race
Largest Universities by degrees awarded
  1. University of California-San Diego
    12,624 degrees awarded
  2. San Diego State University
    10,849 degrees awarded
  3. Ashford University
    8,499 degrees awarded

In 2023, the institution with the largest number of graduating students was University of California-San Diego with 12,624 degrees awarded.

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Student Diversity

University

In 2023, 32,004 men were awarded degrees from institutions in San Diego County, CA, which is 0.659 times less than the 48,532 female students who received degrees in the same year.

In 2023, the most common race/ethnicity group awarded degrees at institutions was White students. These 25,742 degrees mean that there were 1.02 times more degrees awarded to White students then the next closest race/ethnicity group, Hispanic or Latino, with 25,242 degrees awarded.

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Awarded Degrees over Time

The graph shows the evolution of awarded degrees by degrees. Under the paragraphs, the average number of awarded degrees by university in each degree is shown.

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Tuition

Average Net Price by Sector

Universities

Private not-for-profit, 4-year or above ($24,500) is the sector with the highest median state tuition in 2023.

Public, 4-year or above ($1,992) is the sector with the highest median state fee in 2023.

Public, 2-year ($1,152) is the sector with the highest average net price of books and supplies.

The graph shows the average net price by sector and year.

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Housing & Living

The median property value in San Diego County, CA was $854,700 in 2024, which is 2.57 times larger than the national average of $332,700. Between 2023 and 2024 the median property value increased from $791,600 to $854,700, a 7.97% increase. The homeownership rate in San Diego County, CA is 54.6%, which is lower than the national average of 65.2%.

People in San Diego County, CA have an average commute time of 25.5 minutes, and they drove alone to work. Car ownership in San Diego County, CA is approximately the same as the national average, with an average of 2 cars per household.

In 2025, 25.4% of the population was living with severe housing problems in San Diego County, CA. From 2014 to 2025, the indicator declined 1.14%.

Housing

Property

$854,700
Median Property Value 2024
±$3,996
$639,138
Median Property Taxes
±$5,557

The following chart display owner-occupied housing units distributed between a series of property tax buckets compared to the national averages for each bucket. In San Diego County, CA the largest share of households pay taxes in the $3k+ range.

The chart underneath the paragraph shows the property taxes in San Diego County, CA compared to it's parent and neighbor geographies.

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Rent vs Own

54.6%
Homeownership
2024
68.9%
Homeowners with Mortgage
2024

In 2024, 54.6% of the housing units in San Diego County, CA were occupied by their owner. This percentage grew from the previous year's rate of 54.5%.

This chart shows the percentage of owner in San Diego County, CA compared it's parent and neighboring geographies.

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Equity

Household Income

Please note that the buckets used in this visualization were not evenly distributed by ACS when publishing the data.
$106,268
Median Household Income
± $949
1.17M
Number of Households
± 8,745

In 2024, the median household income of the 1.17M households in San Diego County, CA grew to $106,268 from the previous year's value of $102,285.

The following chart displays the households in San Diego County, CA distributed between a series of income buckets compared to the national averages for each bucket. The largest share of households have an income in the $200k+ range.

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Wage Distribution

The closest comparable wage GINI for San Diego County, CA is from California.
0.495
2023 Wage GINI in California
0.498
2022 Wage GINI in California

In 2023, the income inequality in California was 0.495 according to the GINI calculation of the wage distribution. Income inequality had a 0.573% decline from 2022 to 2023, which means that wage distribution grew somewhat more even. The GINI for California was higher than than the national average of 0.476. In other words, wages are distributed less evenly in California in comparison to the national average.

This chart shows the number of workers in California across various wage buckets compared to the national average.

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Transportation

Commuter Transportation

Most Common Commute in 2024
  1. Drove Alone (65.9%)
  2. Worked At Home (18.7%)
  3. Carpooled (8.07%)

In 2024, 65.9% of workers in San Diego County, CA drove alone to work, followed by those who worked at home (18.7%) and those who carpooled to work (8.07%).

The following chart shows the number of households using each mode of transportation over time, using a logarithmic scale on the y-axis to help better show variations in the smaller means of commuting.

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Commute Time

25.5 minutes
Average Travel Time

Using averages, employees in San Diego County, CA have a shorter commute time (25.5 minutes) than the normal US worker (26.4 minutes). Additionally, 1.96% of the workforce in San Diego County, CA have "super commutes" in excess of 90 minutes.

The chart below shows how the median household income in San Diego County, CA compares to that of it's neighboring and parent geographies.

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Car Ownership

2 cars
Average Number

The following chart displays the households in San Diego County, CA distributed between a series of car ownership buckets compared to the national averages for each bucket. The largest share of households in San Diego County, CA have 2 cars.

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Poverty

Severe Housing Problems

In 2025, 25.4% of the population was living with severe housing problems in San Diego County, CA. From 2014 to 2025, the indicator declined 1.14%.

The graph shows the trend of the percentage of the population living with severe housing problems.

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Poverty & Diversity

10.3% of the population for whom poverty status is determined in San Diego County, CA (329k out of 3.2M people) live below the poverty line, a number that is lower than the national average of 12.5%. The largest demographic living in poverty are Females 25 - 34, followed by Females 18 - 24 and then Females 35 - 44.

The most common racial or ethnic group living below the poverty line in San Diego County, CA is Hispanic, followed by White and Two Or More.

The Census Bureau uses a set of money income thresholds that vary by family size and composition to determine who classifies as impoverished. If a family's total income is less than the family's threshold than that family and every individual in it is considered to be living in poverty.

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Children in Poverty

In 2025, 11.6% of the children was living in poverty in San Diego County, CA. From 2014 to 2025, the indicator declined 8.3%.

The graph shows the trend of the percentage of the children living in poverty.

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Security

Crimes & Accidents

Indicator

In 2022, the number of reported violent crimes offenses per 100,000 population was 328 in San Diego County, CA. From 2014 to 2022, the indicator declined 55.7 per 100,000 population.

The graph shows the trend in the number of reported violent crimes offenses per 100,000 population.

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Health

93.6% of the population of San Diego County, CA has health coverage, with 47.7% on employee plans, 17.2% on Medicaid, 10.6% on Medicare, 14.5% on non-group plans, and 3.51% on military or VA plans.

Primary care physicians in San Diego County, CA see 1,185 patients per year on average, which represents a 0% change from the previous year (1,185 patients). Compare this to dentists who see 1013 patients per year, and mental health providers who see 190 patients per year.

By gender, of the total number of insured persons, 49.5% were men and 50.5% were women.

Coverage

Patient to Clinician Ratios

1,185 to 1
Patient to Primary Care Physician Ratio in San Diego County, CA

Primary care physicians in San Diego County, CA see an average of 1,185 patients per year. This represents a 0% change from the previous year (1,185 patients).

The following chart shows how the number of patients seen by primary care physicians has been changing over time in San Diego County, CA in comparison to its neighboring geographies.

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Health Care Diversity

In 2024, insured persons according to age ranges were distributed in 23% under 18 years, 22.8% between 18 and 34 years, 38.5% between 35 and 64 years, and 15.7% over 64 years.

By gender, of the total number of insured persons, 49.5% were men and 50.5% were women.

The following chart shows the number of people with health coverage by gender.

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Uninsured People

6.4%
Uninsured
47.7%
Employer Coverage
17.2%
Medicaid
10.6%
Medicare
14.5%
Non-Group
3.51%
Military or VA

Between 2023 and 2024, the percent of uninsured citizens in San Diego County, CA declined by 5.51% from 6.77% to 6.4%.

The following chart shows how the percent of uninsured individuals in San Diego County, CA changed over time compared with the percent of individuals enrolled in various types of health insurance.

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Health Indicators

Health Outcomes

Indicator

In 2025, the number of deaths among residents under age 18 per 100,000 population was 32.5 in San Diego County, CA.

The graphic shows the trend of the indicator in San Diego County, CA.

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Health Behaviors

Indicator

In 2025, the percentage of the adult population (age 18 and older) that reports a body mass index (BMI) greater than or equal to 30 kg/m2 (age-adjusted) was 25.4% in San Diego County, CA.

The graphic shows the trend of the indicator in San Diego County, CA.

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Clinical Care

Indicator

In 2025, the percentage of population under age 65 without health insurance was 7.28% in San Diego County, CA.

The graphic shows the trend of the indicator in San Diego County, CA.

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