San Diego Average Income, Population and Demographics (2023)

Are you tired of spending 10+ hours searching for demographic and population data for San Diego, California? We have all of the data you need by state, county, city, and zip code that will save you many hours of research!

In this article, we'll explore most of the 190+ data points we have for San Diego, covering popular demographics statistics like household income, race, age and gender, educational attainment, poverty, housing, and transportation.

The data on this page is from the 2021 American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year survey from the US Census Bureau.

According to the latest ACS 5-year survey in 2021, the median household income in San Diego is $89,457.00.

The chart below shows the average household income by age in San Diego.

• Under 25

  $45,161.00

• 25 to 44

  $98,194.00

• 45 to 64

  $102,559.00

• 65 and over

  $67,065.00

Average Household Income

A very commonly asked question is "what is the average household income in San Diego, California?". The official term for the average household income is the mean household income. The mean household income is the total income of all households divided by the number of households.

The average (or mean) household income in San Diego is $121,230.00.

15.43% of households in San Diego, California are classed as high income households (making $200,000+ per year).

Household Income Tiers for San Diego

We can also look at the household income tiers. This lets you see how many households fall into each of the earnings brackets and what percentage that bracket is of the total number of households.

The chart below shows the household income brackets to see which age groups have the highest median income. The actual data is more granular than these brackets, but we've simplified them into bigger categories to make reviewing the data for San Diego, California easier to view.

You can purchase the raw data above, which will have the full income tiers with smaller jumps in household income.

• Less than $24,999

  12.68%

• $25,000 to $49,999

  14.50%

• $50,000 to $74,999

  15.22%

• $75,000 to $99,999

  12.56%

• $100,000 to $149,999

  18.97%

• $150,000 to $199,999

  10.64%

• $200,000 or more

  15.43%

Per Capita Income

The per capita income is the average income of all people in San Diego, California. This is calculated by dividing the total income of all people in San Diego by the total number of people in San Diego.

It differs from the average or mean household income because it includes all people in San Diego and not just the people who earn an income (i.e. children, retirees, unemployed, etc.).

The per capita income in San Diego, California is $46,460.00.

Population in San Diego by Race and Ethnicity

The total population in San Diego is currently 1,385,398 people.

The race and ethnicity of the population in San Diego can be very important for social research, economics, and marketing to a multi-culturial society.

Whether you want to target products or services to a particular race or ethnicity, or provide housing and new businesses to improve areas with a larger ethnic minority population, this data is very valuable for discovering suitable areas.

The chart below breaks down the population and percentage for each race and ethnicity in San Diego, California.

• 42.00% White

  582,523

• 5.70% Black/African American

  78,293

• 0.20% Native

  2,917

• 30.10% Hispanic

  416,325

• 16.90% Asian

  233,687

• 0.40% Hawaiian/Pacific Islander

  6,076

• 4.30% Two or more races

  59,865

• 0.40% Other

  5,712

Population of San Diego by Age and Gender

Another very important demographics statistic for San Diego, California is the age and gender of the population. The age and gender of the population can be used to track trends in population growth or decline, and for businesses, the data can be used to identify people important to you and your business need.

In the table below, we show age groups at a 10 year granularity for ease of use. The raw data, which can be purchased above, includes age and gender at a 5 year granularity.

Education Levels

Educational attainment is a very useful statistic that can give insights into other data such as the average household income, unemployment levels, and literacy.

What this means is that it is likely for areas that have higher levels of education to have higher average household incomes, lower unemployment rates, and higher literacy rates.

The chart below shows the educational attainment of the population in San Diego, California.

• Master's degree or higher

  20.86%

• Bachelor's degree

  45.46%

• Some college or associate's degree

  8.30%

• High school diploma or equivalent

  22.02%

• Less than high school diploma

  3.35%

Unemployment Rates

The unemployment rate is the percentage of the population that is actively looking for work but is unable to find a job. The unemployment rate is a very important statistic for San Diego because it can show how many people are actively looking for work and how many people are unable to find a job.

Lower levels of unemployment is generally seen as a positive sign for the economy. It also makes the government in San Diego look good because it shows that they are doing a good job of creating jobs, working to capacity, being efficient, and keeping the economy strong.

The unemployment rate is calculated using the total population in San Diego, California that are over the age of 16.

The current population in San Diego that are over the age of 16 is 1,143,360 people.

The unemployment rate in San Diego is 6.20%, which means 362,140 people are unemployed.

The median age is an interesting metric because it gives us an idea of the age distribution of people in San Diego, California. You know when you see a median age that it is the age where half of the population is older and half is younger than it.

For demographic studies, this can be used to infer and compare date to things such as birth rates, the age of parents, and so on.

An increasing median age can be a sign of an aging population, which can be a sign of a declining population. This is because older people tend to have fewer children and die more often than younger people.

The median age in San Diego is 35.4 years old.

We can also look at the median age by gender to compare the see how each group compares to the total median age:

Households and Families

There are a total of 509,347 households in San Diego, and the average household size is 2.64 people.

For families, the total number is 304,499, and the average family size is 3.31 people.

7.30% of those families in San Diego, California are living below the poverty line.

The table below shows the poverty thresholds for San Diego in 2022.

Please note that the poverty thresholds shown above are from 2022, while the latest demographics data we have is from 2021.

Households and Families by Marital Status

There are four types of household and family, as defined by the Census Bureau:

• Married-couple
• Male householder, no spouse present
• Female householder, no spouse present
• Nonfamily household

In the table below, you can see the total households and families in San Diego, California for each type, as well as the average sizes.

Housing Data in San Diego

There are total of 545,792 housing units in San Diego, California. Of those units, 509,347 (93.32%) are occupied, and 36,445 (6.68%) are vacant.

Rental Rates

Of the 545,792 housing units in San Diego, 261,010 (47.82%) are occupied by renters. The median rent paid by renters is $1,885.00.

Owner occupied housing units make up the remaining 44.50% of housing units, with 242,894 housing units in total.

The table below breaks down how much rent is paid by renters in San Diego, California.

• No rent paid

  5,443

• Less than $500

  7,146

• $500 to $999

  15,846

• $1,000 to $1,499

  51,662

• $1,500 to $1,999

  72,510

• $2,000 to $2,499

  55,501

• $2,500 to $2,999

  30,324

• $3,000 or more

  28,021

Property Values

The median value of a property in San Diego is $664,000.00.

The table below breaks down the range of valuations for all properties in San Diego.

• Less than $50,000

  3,980

• $50,000 to $99,999

  2,291

• $100,000 to $149,999

  1,657

• $150,000 to $199,999

  1,786

• $200,000 to $299,999

  7,411

• $300,000 to $499,999

  52,909

• $500,000 to $999,999

  124,738

• $1,000,000 or more

  48,122

Property Age

We can also look at the number of properties built in a given year to see the spread of property age in San Diego, California.

• 1939 or earlier

  36,698

• 1940 to 1949

  22,154

• 1950 to 1959

  62,750

• 1960 to 1969

  68,046

• 1970 to 1979

  113,073

• 1980 to 1989

  95,509

• 1990 to 1999

  60,117

• 2000 to 2009

  55,416

• 2010 to 2013

  31,006

• 2014 or later

  1,023

Vehicles Available per Household

Finally, we have data on how many vehicles each household in San Diego has. The table below breaks down the number of vehicles available per household.

• No vehicles available

  31,629

• 1 vehicle available

  174,242

• 2 vehicles available

  201,813

• 3 or more vehicles available

  101,663

Commuting to Work in San Diego

The time and means of commuting to work are useful metrics to look at because they can be correlated against other data such as income and education level.

Does a longer commuting time indicate a higher average income? If so, has the huge increase in home working during the pandemic changed this?

Using these metrics, we can get a better understanding of the demographics of San Diego, California, how they commute, and how that correlates to other data points.

The average travel time is 24.3 minutes, and the chart below covers the range of travel times across the population of San Diego.

• Less than 5 minutes

  7,820

• 5 to 9 minutes

  39,947

• 10 to 14 minutes

  83,158

• 15 to 19 minutes

  120,101

• 20 to 24 minutes

  120,453

• 25 to 29 minutes

  49,338

• 30 to 34 minutes

  90,580

• 35 to 39 minutes

  17,815

• 40 to 44 minutes

  20,757

• 45 to 59 minutes

  35,439

• 60 to 89 minutes

  22,342

• 90 or more minutes

  10,709

We can also look at the means of transport in San Diego to see which modes of transport people are using to commute to work.

• Drove alone

  495,182

• Carpooled

  58,765

• Public transportation

  23,610

• Walked

  23,274

• Other means

  17,628

• Worked from home

  100,680

Conclusion

Hopefully this article has given you the demographics data you were looking for in San Diego, California.

If you need more demographics data, or you need the data listed above in spreadsheet form with more granular grouping, head back to the top of this page where you can purchase the complete demographics data for San Diego.

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