San Luis Obispo ZIP codes — San Luis Obispo County, California

San Luis Obispo County is a mid-size city in California, with 281,486 residents counted in the Census American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates. The median age here is 40.2 years against 39.1 nationally, a slightly older 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 Luis Obispo County earn a median of $93,398 a year, 18.9% above the national figure of $78,538. Household income here is measured before tax and pooled across everyone at the address, which is why it reads higher than typical individual earnings in the same area. Poverty reaches 12.8% of residents here, above the 12.4% national rate.

The typical owner-occupied home in San Luis Obispo County is valued at $777,200, 156.2% above the national figure, while median gross rent runs $1,899 a month, 35.1% above the national figure, or roughly $22,788 across a full year. A household on the local median income would put about 24.4% 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 8.3×, 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. 61.9% 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 8.3× 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. Median income runs above the national figure while poverty also runs above it — a split distribution, not a uniformly comfortable place. Averages hide that; the two numbers together do not.

All values below were released by the Census for this exact geography, with no gap-filling on our side. 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.