County · California

San Luis Obispo County, California

San Luis Obispo County, California has a quality-of-life score of 75 out of 100 (high), ranking #795 of 3,143 US counties. Within California it ranks #10 of 58 counties. It ranks best on comfortable days (high), public EV charging ports (high) and drought exposure (low). It ranks worst on home price to income ratio (high), cost of buying a home today (high) and students per teacher (high).

75High
Quality-of-life score
#795 of 3,143 counties
California
#10 of 58 in CA
Population
282,367 (2025)
Land area
3,301 mi²
Density
85.5 /mi²
FIPS code
06079

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

Location of San Luis Obispo County, California

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US counties.

  • Safety65#1,090/3,096
  • Economy71#903/3,143
  • Housing1#3,098/3,140
  • Health91#282/3,144
  • Healthcare96#126/3,143
  • Environment35#2,027/3,108
  • Education68#998/3,144
  • Infrastructure93#213/3,144
  • Community54#1,441/3,144
  • Leisure & amenities94#203/3,143

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where San Luis Obispo County, California ranks highest and lowest among US counties (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.

Counties like San Luis Obispo County, California five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of San Luis Obispo County, 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.

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.

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.

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.

Public money & outcomes

Federal money per resident by fiscal year next to how the place changed, and, when its money jumped, how it compares with similar counties. A comparison, not cause and effect.

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.

Metro area

The metro or micro area San Luis Obispo County belongs to. A county is in at most one.

Cities and towns in San Luis Obispo County

Places whose residents live mostly in San Luis Obispo County, largest first.

  1. San Luis Obispo48,491
  2. El Paso de Robles (Paso Robles)31,446
  3. Atascadero29,712
  4. Arroyo Grande18,372
  5. Nipomo17,516
  6. Los Osos14,166
  7. Grover Beach12,604
  8. Morro Bay10,692
  9. Templeton9,580
  10. Pismo Beach8,014
  11. California Polytechnic State University7,915
  12. Oceano7,128
  13. Cambria5,978
  14. Lake Nacimiento3,339
  15. San Miguel3,227
  16. Cayucos2,427
  17. Callender2,230
  18. Woodlands2,061
  19. Los Ranchos1,467
  20. Avila Beach1,303
  21. Shandon1,169
  22. Santa Margarita1,149
  23. Blacklake983
  24. Edna330

Neighboring counties

Places that share a border, best score first.

Similar counties

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/06079