San Diego, CA population, income and ZIP codes

San Diego city is a major city in California, with 1,385,061 residents counted in the Census American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, which places it #2 of 1,618 ranked by population — larger than 99% of them. The median age here is 36 years against 39.1 nationally, a slightly younger profile than the country as a whole. At this size the Census also publishes one-year estimates; the five-year values used here are steadier and let you compare against smaller neighbours on the same basis.

Households in San Diego city earn a median of $104,321 a year, 32.8% above the national figure of $78,538 and 14% above the $91,111 median for the 1,050 California cities we cover. Median household income counts every pre-tax dollar arriving at an address — wages, self-employment, Social Security, pensions, interest and public assistance — for everyone living there, so multi-earner households pull the figure up even where individual pay is modest. Poverty reaches 11.1% of residents here, below the 12.4% national rate.

The typical owner-occupied home in San Diego city is valued at $848,500, 179.7% above the national figure and 44% above the $589,600 peer median, while median gross rent runs $2,223 a month, 58.1% above the national figure, or roughly $26,676 across a full year. A household on the local median income would put about 25.6% of gross pay toward that rent against the federal 30% cost-burden threshold, so renting here is within the standard affordability guideline. The home-price-to-income ratio works out to 8.1×, against roughly 3.9× nationally, so buying is out of reach on local earnings alone and the ownership market leans on outside income, equity or dual high earners. 47.6% of occupied homes are owner-occupied versus 65% nationally, so the market leans more heavily on renters. The rent line includes utilities paid by the tenant, a definition worth remembering when comparing it against a landlord's quoted rate.

Home values sit at 8.1× median household income, far past the 3.9× national mark, so ownership costs here are set by something other than local wages — second homes, retirees with equity, or commuters earning elsewhere.

Every value on this page is published directly by the Census for this area — nothing is modelled or interpolated. Small-area estimates still carry wider margins of error than state or national figures, so check the linked ACS tables before relying on them for lending, appraisal or legal work.