
California · Census place 70686
Seal Beach, CA population, income and ZIP codes
Quick answer
The population of the city of Seal Beach, California (Seal Beach, CA — Census place “Seal Beach city”) is 24,868 residents, ranking #306 of 1618 places in California. Median household income is $83,045, the median home is worth $492,200 and median gross rent runs $2,419 a month. Looking for the Seal Beach California ZIP code list? 2 ZIP codes serve Seal Beach, CA: 90740, 90743.
- Population
- 24,868Seal Beach city residents
- Median household income
- $83,045Past 12 months, inflation adjusted
- Median home value
- $492,200Owner-occupied units
- Median gross rent
- $2,419Rent plus utilities, monthly
- Median age
- 61.2 yrsAll residents
- Homeownership rate
- 75.9%Owner-occupied households
Seal Beach ZIP codes (California)
Census ZCTAs whose delivery area overlaps Seal Beach.
The Seal Beach CA ZIP code list below covers 2 ZIP codes. Open any one for its population, income, housing and rent profile.
What the numbers mean in Seal Beach city
Housing cost measured against local earnings.
A household earning the Seal Beach city median would spend about 35% of gross income on the median rent. The 30% mark is the federal threshold for cost burden, so anything above it signals a stretched rental market. The median home costs 5.9× the median household income; nationally that ratio sits near 4.5×. Poverty affects 5.5% of residents and 75.9% of households own their home.
Source: US Census Bureau, ACS 2019-2023 5-year estimates · rates as published for 2019-2023 ACS 5-year
Seal Beach city, CA in context
How this area compares with national benchmarks.
Seal Beach city is a mid-size town in California, with 24,868 residents counted in the Census American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, which places it #306 of 1,618 ranked by population — larger than 81% of them. The median age here is 61.2 years against 39.1 nationally, a markedly older profile that usually tracks retirees staying put and younger households leaving for work. Places under 65,000 residents only appear in the five-year release, never the one-year file, so these values pool sixty months of responses and lag the current year by design.
Households in Seal Beach city earn a median of $83,045 a year, 5.7% above the national figure of $78,538 and 9% below 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 5.5% of residents here, less than half the 12.4% national rate.
The typical owner-occupied home in Seal Beach city is valued at $492,200, 62.2% above the national figure and 17% below the $589,600 peer median, while median gross rent runs $2,419 a month, 72% above the national figure, or roughly $29,028 across a full year. A household on the local median income would put about 35% of gross pay toward that rent against the federal 30% cost-burden threshold, so renting here is a stretch on median earnings. The home-price-to-income ratio works out to 5.9×, against roughly 3.9× nationally, so buying is harder here than in the average US market. 75.9% of occupied homes are owner-occupied versus 65% nationally, so the market leans toward owners. Rent is reported gross — contract rent plus tenant-paid utilities — which is why it runs above the advertised price on a listing for the same unit.
A median age of 61.2 puts Seal Beach city well into retirement-weighted territory, which pulls median household income down even where household wealth is high, because retirement draws are counted differently from wages.
No figure on this page is estimated by us; each one comes straight from the published ACS tables for this area. 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.
Compare with nearby places
Places of similar size in California.
- Maywood city 24,593
- Riverbank city 24,881
- Selma city 24,586
- Loma Linda city 25,021
- Soledad city 24,476
- Mountain House CDP 25,108
- Bloomington CDP 24,324
- Barstow city 25,198
Keep going
More California coverage.
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about this area.
- What is the population of Seal Beach city?
- Seal Beach city has 24,868 residents on Census ACS 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, ranking #306 of 1,618 in California.
- What is the median household income in Seal Beach city?
- Median household income in Seal Beach city is $83,045 a year, 5.7% above the national figure of $78,538.
- How much does it cost to rent or buy in Seal Beach city?
- Median gross rent is $2,419 a month and the median home value is $492,200, so rent absorbs about 35% of median household income.
- Is Seal Beach city affordable compared with the rest of the US?
- Homes cost about 5.9× the local median income here versus roughly 3.9× nationally, so Seal Beach city is less affordable to buy in than the typical US market, and rent takes 35% of median income against the 30% cost-burden line.
- How current is this Seal Beach city data?
- All figures come from the US Census Bureau American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year five-year estimates. Places under 65,000 residents only appear in the five-year release, never the one-year file, so these values pool sixty months of responses and lag the current year by design.