ZIP code 92126

ZIP 92126 is a small city in San Diego County, California, with 77,239 residents counted in the Census American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, which places it #44 of 1,803 ranked by population — larger than 97% of them. The median age here is 36.3 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 ZIP 92126 earn a median of $123,232 a year, 56.9% 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 7.8% of residents here, below the 12.4% national rate.

The typical owner-occupied home in ZIP 92126 is valued at $802,000, 164.3% above the national figure, while median gross rent runs $2,630 a month, 87.1% above the national figure, or roughly $31,560 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 6.5×, 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. 52.7% 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 6.5× 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.

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.

ZIP 92126 is tabulated inside San Diego County, California, one of 115 ZIP areas the Census publishes for that county and 1,803 across California. This is a dense urban ZIP, where a single postal boundary can hold more residents than an entire rural county. County assignment on this page follows the largest share of the ZIP's land area, which matters where a delivery route crosses a county line: mail addressed to 92126 can be handled by a post office in a neighbouring county even though the tabulation area is filed here.

Against its own county, 92126 reports a median household income of $123,232, 20% above the $102,617 county median, and 37% above the $89,916 typical CA ZIP. Owner-occupied homes are valued at a median of $802,000, 5% above the county figure and 28% above the statewide ZIP median. Rent is reported gross — the contract amount plus tenant-paid utilities — at $2,630 a month, which is why it reads higher than the advertised rent on a listing for the same unit.

A taxable purchase made inside 92126 carries 7.75% at the register, assembled from the San Diego jurisdiction stack: the California state rate plus every county, municipal and special district levy that reaches this address. Because those district boundaries were drawn for schools, transit and hospital funding rather than for mail delivery, two addresses inside 92126 can legitimately fall under different totals — the rate shown here is the one that applies to the dominant jurisdiction.

Everything above comes from the Census Bureau American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates for this ZIP Code Tabulation Area, with sales tax rates traced to the state revenue agency. Five-year estimates pool sixty months of responses, so they are stable enough to compare 92126 with its neighbours but always trail the current year, and any value the Census suppressed for sample size is shown as unpublished rather than filled in with a model.