county

San Luis Obispo County, CA

Demographic and economic profile of San Luis Obispo County, CA, sourced from the US Census Bureau (American Community Survey) via Data USA.

AI Overview

San Luis Obispo County has a population of 281,843 with zero net growth over the past five years, a labor force participation rate of 58.7%, and an unemployment rate of 5.1%. About 39.2% of residents hold a bachelor's degree or higher, median worker earnings sit at $39,465 against a median household income of $97,446, and GDP per capita reaches $64,548. Housing costs are notable, with a median home value of $777,200 and median gross rent of $1,899 per month against a 62.1% homeownership rate.

Claude Sonnet 4.6 · generated Jul 6, 2026 · derived from cached Census, BEA & ACS data on this page

Population

281,843

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Household Income

$97,446

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

40.4 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

+0.0% since 2018

San Luis Obispo County added population at this rate over the prior 5-year ACS5 window.

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone195,251 (69.3%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race33,766 (12.0%)
  • Some Other Race Alone21,592 (7.7%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races14,163 (5.0%)
  • Asian Alone10,471 (3.7%)
  • Black or African American Alone3,267 (1.2%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Spanish34,127
  2. 2.Other Indo-European2,289
  3. 3.Chinese (incl. Mandarin, Cantonese)1,892
  4. 4.Other Asian and Pacific Island1,572
  5. 5.German or other West Germanic1,101

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

17.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

60.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

21.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

9.9%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

14,563

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$64,548

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$49,581

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

5.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

12.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance30,584
  2. 2.Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation, & Accommodation & Food Services15,790
  3. 3.Professional, Scientific, & Management, & Administrative & Waste Management Services15,634
  4. 4.Retail Trade (Group)14,209
  5. 5.Construction (Group)10,212

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations56,231
  2. 2.Sales & Office Occupations26,152
  3. 3.Service Occupations25,188
  4. 4.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations11,940
  5. 5.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations10,939

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining (LQ 2.10×)4,406
  2. 2.Arts, Entertainment, Recreation, & Accommodation (LQ 1.45×)16,694
  3. 3.Public Administration (LQ 1.19×)7,421
  4. 4.Construction (LQ 1.10×)9,988
  5. 5.Other Services (LQ 1.04×)6,476

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$777,200

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$1,899/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

62.1%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $750,000 to $999,99918,871 (27.8%)
  • $500,000 to $749,99916,143 (23.7%)
  • $1,000,000 to $1,499,99913,417 (19.7%)
  • $400,000 to $499,9994,584 (6.7%)
  • $1,500,000 to $1,999,9993,836 (5.6%)
  • $2,000,000 or More3,511 (5.2%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

39.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

91.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

58.7%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$39,465

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

22.3 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

4.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone89,313 (70.5%)
  • Worked At Home19,256 (15.2%)
  • Carpooled9,705 (7.7%)
  • Walked4,853 (3.8%)
  • Bicycle1,615 (1.3%)
  • Other796 (0.6%)

Data USA · as of 2024

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Data: US Census Bureau American Community Survey, served via Data USA and the Census Bureau API. See each metric tile for the specific dataset.