City safety & data profile
San Luis ObispoCA
San Luis Obispo, CA is a 47K-resident city in San Luis Obispo County with a median household income of $73,685.
San Luis Obispo County, California. Federal health, economic, and safety indicators for San Luis Obispo, drawn from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, CDC PLACES, and CMS Hospital Compare. San Luis Obispo has a population larger than 78% of the 4,640 U.S. cities Areazine tracks, a median home value of $935,100, and 2 hospitals serving the surrounding area.
Data updated 2026-09-04
- 47K
- Population (place)
- Top 22%
- By size
- $73,685
- Median income (place)
- $935,100
- Median home (place)
- 30.4%
- Poverty rate (place)
The read on San Luis Obispo
San Luis Obispo posts a median household income higher than 42% of U.S. cities Areazine tracks, where 1 recent safety alert is on record and 2 hospitals serve the San Luis Obispo area.
- Bottom 43%
- by median income, US cities
- 1
- safety alert on record
- 2
- hospitals in & near San Luis Obispo
Where San Luis Obispo income ranks nationally
Median household income vs. every place Areazine profiles (place-level ACS)
$73,685 Bottom 42% higher than 42% of 3,889 places Areazine profiles
Each bar is a $20K-wide band; taller bars hold more places Areazine profiles. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (place-level) · 2024 ACS 5-year
Largest cities in CA
Population among 482 CA places with 10,000+ residents and ACS income on Areazine. Tooltip shows the income rank in the same pool.
- Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA
3,820,914 residents
- San Diego 1,404,452
San Diego, CA
1,404,452 residents
- San Jose 997,368
San Jose, CA
997,368 residents
- San Francisco 827,526
San Francisco, CA
827,526 residents
- Fresno 542,107
Fresno, CA
542,107 residents
- Sacramento 524,943
Sacramento, CA
524,943 residents
- Long Beach 474,140
Long Beach, CA
474,140 residents
- Oakland 419,267
Oakland, CA
419,267 residents
- Bakersfield 373,640
Bakersfield, CA
373,640 residents
- Anaheim 350,742
Anaheim, CA
350,742 residents
What this shows Los Angeles is the largest CA city on this list; Alamo leads median income.
Highest median incomes in CA
Median household income among the same 482-city pool. Tooltip shows the population rank.
- Alamo
Alamo, CA
$250,001 median
- Hillsborough
Hillsborough, CA
$250,001 median
- Los Altos
Los Altos, CA
$250,001 median
- Orinda
Orinda, CA
$250,001 median
- Piedmont
Piedmont, CA
$250,001 median
- Saratoga
Saratoga, CA
$250,001 median
- Coto De Caza
Coto De Caza, CA
$243,816 median
- Tamalpais-Ho…
Tamalpais-Homestead Valley, CA
$243,227 median
- Palos Verdes…
Palos Verdes Estates, CA
$242,014 median
- San Carlos
San Carlos, CA
$237,470 median
What this shows Alamo posts the highest place-level median income in CA; Los Angeles is largest by headcount.
The quick read
Reading San Luis Obispo, CA beyond the headline numbers
San Luis Obispo sits inside San Luis Obispo County, California, at roughly 35.28°N, -120.66°W. Population 47,339, $73,685 median household income. Median home value $935,100, median rent $1,965. Poverty rate 30.4%, read against that income figure since two cities on the same median can differ underneath it.
2 hospitals in/around San Luis Obispo, 4/5 avg rating, 2 with an ER.
30.4% of San Luis Obispo, CA residents live below the poverty line, placing it in the hardest-hit quarter of reporting cities. Read every median on this page against that: half the households are above it, and a large minority are far below.
The median home in San Luis Obispo costs around 12.7 times what a median household earns in a year -- the most expensive quarter of reporting cities, and far enough ahead of local pay that ownership is largely closed to median earners.
17.1% of San Luis Obispo workers are remote, above the midpoint of reporting cities.
Among the CDC measures on this page, frequent mental distress departs furthest from its peer median: 20.3% in San Luis Obispo, the highest-prevalence quarter of the 3,759 cities reporting that measure.
San Luis Obispo's median age is 26.3 years, in the youngest quarter of reporting cities.
Sources: U.S. Census ACS, CDC PLACES, CMS Hospital Compare, plus live alerts for San Luis Obispo from FEMA, NOAA, FDA, and CPSC. Economic comparison bars use the unweighted average across tracked Census places with a reported value, not a household-weighted national median.
10-Year Trends 2013–2024
County-level trend (San Luis Obispo County): San Luis Obispo's own historical series isn't separately published by the Census Bureau, so these year-over-year figures track the surrounding county, not the city alone.
Economics
| Indicator | Value |
|---|---|
| Median Rent | |
| Poverty Rate | 30.4% +145% vs avg |
| Unemployment | 7% |
| Bachelor's Degree+ | 54.4% |
| Work From Home | 17.1% |
| Public Transit | 1% |
Population
Health Profile 15 measures
Health Indicators
Preventive Care
Other Measures
Hospitals 2 total
What alerts and safety updates affect San Luis Obispo? 1
City alert dispatch desk
Sheet CA-SAN-LUIS-OBISPO · San Luis Obispo
San Luis Obispo: 3 tagged alerts; lead category NWS weather alert.
- VOL-TRACE 3 on record
- WX-LED 100% weather
- DESK-MIX NOAA
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Los Angeles
- RANK-MID #72 tagged volume
Tagged alert mix: San Luis Obispo
Published notices carrying this city slug or location tag
- Weather Alerts
Weather Alerts
3
What this shows 3 tagged notices on record for San Luis Obispo.
Nearest tagged-volume peer: Los Angeles, CA (3 tagged · Δ0)
Counts reflect published articles tagged to San Luis Obispo; untagged NOAA county warnings may still appear in the site feed. Browse California state hubs · Methodology
Cities with a similar tagged alert volume 4
Nearest published-notice counts on Areazine (3 tagged here), a feed-density peer set, not an ACS demographic match.
Read with this city profile
Frequently Asked Questions 6
What is the population of San Luis Obispo, CA? ▼
What is the median household income in San Luis Obispo? ▼
What is the median home value in San Luis Obispo? ▼
What are the top health concerns in San Luis Obispo? ▼
How many hospitals are in San Luis Obispo? ▼
What is the median age in San Luis Obispo? ▼
Nationwide cities with similar poverty or income 8
Two ACS-derived peer sets for San Luis Obispo, both outside California so the neighborhoods are not the geographic nearby list below.
Similar poverty rate
Nearest place-level ACS poverty rates outside CA (30.4% here).
Similar median income
Nearest place-level ACS median household incomes outside CA ($73,685 here).
Compare San Luis Obispo with another city
Pick a second U.S. city to open a side-by-side profile on population, income, health, and hospitals, the same federal datasets as this page.
Nearby Cities 8
Using San Luis Obispo's profile
Use this as a starting research checklist, not a verdict on whether to live here.
- Check live recalls, weather and hazard alerts scoped to the San Luis Obispo area before relying on national headlines. Check your area
- Read the poverty rate alongside the income figure, two places with the same median can have very different realities.
- Compare San Luis Obispo against California peers on any ranking lens. Explore California
Population and economics (income, home value, poverty, education) are place-level U.S. Census ACS; health is CDC PLACES; hospital counts reflect facilities in and around the city. County-level trends are labeled when shown.
Data Sources
All data on this page comes from official U.S. government sources. Population and economic data from the Census Bureau American Community Survey (2024 5-year estimates, place geography). Health data from the CDC PLACES program (2023). Hospital ratings from CMS Hospital Compare (2024). Climate data from NOAA. Education data from NCES. Cost of living from Bureau of Economic Analysis. Crime statistics, where referenced on Areazine, originate from the FBI Crime Data Explorer. Housing market figures referenced on Areazine come from HUD Fair Market Rents. Census economics and population are at place geography; some health and hospital indicators are reported at the county level (San Luis Obispo County) where that is the smallest published unit.
Every figure on Areazine is published directly from official U.S. government sources, no number is typed in by an editor. City demographic and health figures are compiled directly from U.S. Census (place-level ACS), CDC, and CMS releases, updated quarterly within 30 days of upstream release. County-level trends are labeled when shown. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026.