Metro area · California

San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA metro area

San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA is a metropolitan area of 1 county in California, home to 3,282,248 residents. San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA metro area has a quality-of-life score of 73 out of 100 (high), ranking #249 of 925 US metro and micro areas. Among metro and micro areas based in California it ranks #10 of 34. It ranks best on comfortable days (high), broadband subscriptions (high) and access to exercise opportunities (high). It ranks worst on median Air Quality Index (high), severe housing problems (high) and home price to income ratio (high).

73High
Quality-of-life score
#249 of 925 metro and micro areas
California
#10 of 34 in CA
Population
3,282,248 (2025)
Land area
4,211 mi²
Density
779.5 /mi²
CBSA code
41740

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 69 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map
Location of San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA metro area

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US metro and micro areas.

  • Safety71#269/924
  • Economy87#119/925
  • Housing1#915/925
  • Health96#42/925
  • Healthcare88#108/923
  • Environment6#866/917
  • Education80#186/925
  • Infrastructure94#61/925
  • Community37#582/925
  • Leisure & amenities85#135/925

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA metro area ranks highest and lowest among US metro and micro areas (score = percentile, 100 = best).

Strengths

Weaknesses

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.

Metro and micro areas like San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA metro area five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA metro area 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.

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).

Income

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

Homes

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

Getting to work

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

Jobs and pay

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

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.

Federal contract spending

Federal grants & assistance

Grants, loans (counted at their subsidy cost), direct payments and insurance, by fiscal year of the action (USAspending.gov, FABS). Reported apart from contracts and never added to them.

Counties in San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA

Whole counties, as the U.S. Office of Management and Budget delineates the area. Federal spending below is the exact sum of these counties.

  1. San Diego CountyCentral county693,282,248

Principal cities

The cities the area is named for.

  1. CarlsbadPrincipal city114,373
  2. Chula VistaPrincipal city276,375
  3. EncinitasPrincipal city61,480
  4. San DiegoPrincipal city1,389,526

Largest cities and towns

By population, for places with most of their residents in the area.

  1. San Diego1,389,526
  2. Chula Vista276,375
  3. Oceanside172,242
  4. Escondido149,668
  5. Carlsbad114,373
  6. El Cajon104,449
  7. Vista99,114
  8. San Marcos94,882
  9. Encinitas61,480
  10. La Mesa60,797
  11. Santee59,332
  12. National City58,893
  13. Poway48,713
  14. La Presa34,962
  15. Fallbrook32,112
  16. Spring Valley31,969
  17. Lemon Grove27,686
  18. Imperial Beach25,764
  19. Ramona22,634
  20. Lakeside22,447
  21. Winter Gardens22,131
  22. Rancho San Diego21,272
  23. Casa de Oro-Mount Helix19,765
  24. Coronado19,015

Other metro and micro areas in California

Areas based in California, best score first.

Neighboring metro and micro areas

Places that share a border, best score first.

Similar metro and micro areas

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.

JSON · /api/v1/places/M41740