City · San Luis Obispo County, California

El Paso de Robles (Paso Robles), California

El Paso de Robles (Paso Robles) is a city in San Luis Obispo County, California, part of the San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA metro area. It has 31,446 residents. El Paso de Robles (Paso Robles), California has a quality-of-life score of 56 out of 100 (moderate), ranking #6,841 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within California it ranks #339 of 1,062 cities and towns. It ranks best on public EV charging ports (high), mental health providers (high) and comfortable days (high). It ranks worst on home price to income ratio (high), natural hazard risk (high) and students per teacher (high).

56Moderate

Quality-of-life score: #6,841 of 15,651 cities and towns
California: #339 of 1,062 in CA
Population: 31,446 (2020-2024)
Land area: 20 mi²
Density: 1,579.0 /mi²
FIPS code: 0622300

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 76 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety58#6,572/15,637
Economy43#8,943/15,631
Housing14#12,871/14,977
Health70#4,640/15,609
Healthcare74#4,046/15,650
Environment49#7,922/15,453
Education27#11,373/15,649
Infrastructure67#5,218/15,650
Community52#7,530/15,651
Leisure & amenities94#987/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where El Paso de Robles (Paso Robles), California ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “San Luis Obispo County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Public EV charging ports · high29.3 /10k
99/100California 17.5 /10kUnited States 7.6 /10kOct 2026U.S. Department of EnergySan Luis Obispo County value
Mental health providers · high756 /100k
97/100California 487 /100kUnited States 348 /100k2025University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteSan Luis Obispo County value
Comfortable days · high44.8%
97/100California 34.8%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationSan Luis Obispo County value
Drought exposure · low0%
97/100California 9%United States 43%Nov 2025–Oct 2026National Drought Mitigation Center (University of Nebraska–Lincoln), USDA and NOAASan Luis Obispo County value
Distance to an Amtrak station · low6 mi
94/100California 10 miUnited States 43 mi2026Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauSan Luis Obispo County value
Primary care shortage · low0.0
90/100California 2.5United States 6.2Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationSan Luis Obispo County value

Weaknesses

Home price to income ratio · high7.4×
4/100California 7.4×United States 4.1×2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25077
Natural hazard risk · high95.8
4/100California 87.32025Federal Emergency Management AgencySan Luis Obispo County value
Students per teacher · high20.8×
7/100California 21.7×United States 15.2×2024National Center for Education StatisticsSan Luis Obispo County value
Rent-burdened households · high60.1%
7/100California 55.3%United States 51.1%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25070
High school diploma or higher · low87.9%
9/100California 84.7%United States 89.6%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B15003
Rent as share of income · high34.1%
12/100California 32.8%United States 30.6%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25071

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

New homes permittedImproving
1.6 /1k (2021) → 5.7 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
+255%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Median household incomeImproving
$62,601 (2015-2019) → $92,228 (2020-2024)
+47%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
85.5% (2015-2019) → 94.4% (2020-2024)
+8.9 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Child poverty rateWorsening
12.5% (2015-2019) → 17.9% (2020-2024)
+5.4 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Bachelor's degree or higherImproving
24.4% (2015-2019) → 29.7% (2020-2024)
+5.3 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
55.0% (2015-2019) → 60.1% (2020-2024)
+5.2 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, El Paso de Robles (Paso Robles), California improved on 3 of 14 measures with a comparison and declined on 1. 10 moved within the margin of error and 0 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved3

Household income+47%$62,601 → $92,228
Bachelor's++5.3 points24.4% → 29.7%
Broadband+8.9 points85.5% → 94.4%

Declined1

Unemployment+2.8 points3.5% → 6.3%

All 14 measures

Change of every measure of El Paso de Robles (Paso Robles), California between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	23.0 min2015-2019	25.6 min2020-2024	+2.7 min	Within the margin of error	22%
Bachelor's degree or higher	24.4%2015-2019	29.7%2020-2024	+5.3 points	Improved	69%
Broadband subscriptions	85.5%2015-2019	94.4%2020-2024	+8.9 points	Improved	54%
Child poverty rate	12.5%2015-2019	17.9%2020-2024	+5.4 points	Within the margin of error	19%
Effective property tax rate	0.78%2015-2019	0.69%2020-2024	−0.1 points	Within the margin of error	33%
High school diploma or higher	85.7%2015-2019	88.0%2020-2024	+2.2 points	Within the margin of error	61%
Home price to income ratio	7.3×2015-2019	7.5×2020-2024	+0.2×	Within the margin of error	70%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4312015-2019	0.4542020-2024	+0.023	Within the margin of error	31%
Median household income	$62,6012015-2019	$92,2282020-2024	+47%	Improved	82%
Poverty rate	9.4%2015-2019	13.1%2020-2024	+3.7 points	Within the margin of error	17%
Rent as share of income	31.5%2015-2019	34.1%2020-2024	+2.6 points	Within the margin of error	35%
Rent-burdened households	55.0%2015-2019	60.1%2020-2024	+5.2 points	Within the margin of error	37%
Unemployment rate	3.5%2015-2019	6.3%2020-2024	+2.8 points	Declined	11%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	12.8%2015-2019	11.3%2020-2024	−1.5 points	Within the margin of error	64%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like El Paso de Robles (Paso Robles), California five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of El Paso de Robles (Paso Robles), California in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, El Paso de Robles (Paso Robles), California itself moved −2.2 points in standing on average over the same 10 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

31,446 residents (±51)

Men
Women

80 and over
70–79
60–69
50–59
40–49
30–39
20–29
10–19
Under 10

Share of all residents, each sex

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: 20–29 women (−2.2 points).

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B01001View table on data.census.gov

Race and Hispanic origin

31,446 residents (±51)

El Paso de Robles (Paso Robles), California
California share

White54%17,129
Black0.3%†101
Hispanic or Latino37%11,534

Education

21,197 residents (±716)

El Paso de Robles (Paso Robles), California
California share

No high school diploma12%2,554
High school or GED21%4,550
Some college24%5,092

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

11,979 households (±512)

El Paso de Robles (Paso Robles), California
California share

Under $25k13%1,527
$25k–50k14%1,639
$50k–75k15%1,809
$75k–100k13%1,522
$100k–150k21%2,554
$150k–200k12%1,420
$200k or more13%1,508

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: $25k–50k (−11.9 points).

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B19001View table on data.census.gov

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

11,979 households (±512)

El Paso de Robles (Paso Robles), California
California share

Own61%7,346
Rent39%4,633

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B25003View table on data.census.gov

Rent paid

4,497 households (±451)

El Paso de Robles (Paso Robles), California
California share

Under $7504.4%†198
$750–1,0001.5%†67
$1,000–1,50025%1,123

Home values

7,346 homes (±534)

El Paso de Robles (Paso Robles), California
California share

Under $150k3.5%†256
$150k–250k0.7%†55
$250k–400k3.4%†

Age of homes

12,910 homes (±555)

El Paso de Robles (Paso Robles), California
California share

2010 or later8.0%1,032
2000–200923%2,949
1980–199938%4,862

Size of homes

12,910 homes (±555)

El Paso de Robles (Paso Robles), California
California share

Studio2.7%†350
1 bedroom8.1%1,045
2 bedrooms27%3,513

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

13,697 workers (±834)

El Paso de Robles (Paso Robles), California
California share

Drive alone74%10,111
Carpool9.3%1,273
Public transit1.1%†157
Walk1.7%†234
Bike0.2%†25
Work from home11%1,558
Other2.5%†339

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Work from home (+6.9 points).

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B08301View table on data.census.gov

Time to get to work

12,139 workers (±810)

El Paso de Robles (Paso Robles), California
California share

Under 15 min35%4,288
15–29 min26%3,188
30–44 min23%2,774

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay by metro area, not by county or city. The metro area page lists its largest occupations and lets you look up any job.

Pay in the San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of San Luis Obispo County, the county holding most of El Paso de Robles (Paso Robles)'s residents.

San Luis Obispo County has 8,962 employer establishments, 318 for every 10,000 residents (1.28× the US rate of 248; 1.21× California's), with 98,720 paid employees at an average annual pay of $57,731. The Census Bureau also counts 26,183 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 8,962; 26,183 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 318; US 248 · California 263
Paid employees: 98,720
Average annual pay: $57,731; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of San Luis Obispo County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Ambulatory health care services	870	30.8	1.48×More than typical	6,329	$72,302	1,477
Restaurants and other eating places	775	27.5	1.50×More than typical	12,770	$28,457	104
Specialty trade contractors	684	24.2	1.57×More than typical	4,926	$70,552	1,316
Lessors of real estate	463	16.4	1.33×More than typical	1,687	$56,256	3,047
Construction of buildings	363	12.9	1.70×More than typical	1,846	$68,824	853
Full-service restaurants	351	12.4	1.62×More than typical	6,653	$30,949	44
Offices of physicians	341	12.1	1.87×More than typical	1,789	$104,366	275
Limited-service restaurants	294	10.4	1.30×More than typical	4,621	$26,663	31
Services to buildings and dwellings	274	9.7	1.44×More than typical	2,561	$42,667	1,278
Offices of other health practitioners	240	8.5	1.40×More than typical	1,227	$42,692	863
Building equipment contractors	235	8.3	1.38×More than typical	1,883	$73,131	278
Management, scientific and technical consulting	235	8.3	1.24×About typical	956	$83,677	1,212

Rank places for an industry Open San Luis Obispo County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 282,225 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated $23.8K of federal contract obligations were for work performed in El Paso de Robles (Paso Robles), California: $0.76 per resident (US $2,007).

Obligations: $23.8K; +337% vs FY2025
Per resident: $0.76; US $2,007
Sole-source: 3.9%; US 30%
Single offer: 67%; US 8.7%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

Top recipients

Spending by fiscal year

161KFY2017
123.5KFY2018
110.3KFY2019
81.4KFY2020
81.2KFY2021
76.9KFY2022
187.9KFY2023
123.3K

Top industries (NAICS)

Nonscheduled air transportation · 4812$9,76441%
Electric lighting equipment manufacturing · 3351$7,61032%
Petroleum and coal products manufacturing · 3241$6,19326%
Motor vehicle parts manufacturing · 3363$1510.6%
Electrical equipment manufacturing · 3353$1070.5%

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 9, 2026, loaded Oct 9, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in El Paso de Robles (Paso Robles), California, so they do not add up across cities.

El Paso de Robles (Paso Robles), California's figures are part of those of San Luis Obispo County, CA ($42.7M in FY2026), never added to them: 0.1% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: El Paso de Robles (Paso Robles) is mostly in San Luis Obispo County.

See federal money in San Luis Obispo County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

El Paso de Robles (Paso Robles), California is split between congressional districts: each representative is shown with the share of its residents in their district (current boundaries).

House

Senate

Explore Congress The 2026 races

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

San Luis Obispo County75100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA85

Other cities and towns in San Luis Obispo County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Building Permits SurveyU.S. Census Bureau · release 2026-08
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/0622300

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends