Comprehensive salary data, cost of living, and employment information for San Diego, California. Population: 1,423,851.
Reviewed by Alexander O.M., MBA, BSc Engineering•Updated
San Diego's $89,457 median household income is above the national average, but the city's cost-of-living index of 160 pushes effective purchasing power meaningfully below baseline. Housing is overwhelmingly the primary driver — median home prices in San Diego County exceed $900,000, and median one-bedroom rent runs above $2,300. The economy spans four distinctive clusters: the US Navy (San Diego is the largest naval base on the Pacific coast and hosts a very large active-duty and civilian Department of Defense workforce), biotech (La Jolla and the Torrey Pines Mesa host one of the three largest biotech clusters in the US, along with Illumina, and hundreds of smaller pharma and medical-device companies), tourism, and technology (Qualcomm's headquarters has over 14,000 employees in the metro). The University of California San Diego is one of the largest single employers in the region, including UCSD Health. California's state income tax (1% to 13.3%) applies on top of federal, and San Diego's combined local sales tax is 7.75%. Full breakdown below.
Median Individual
$45,535
per year
Median Household
$89,457
per year
Cost of Living
160
Very Expensive (US avg = 100)
Population
1.4M
Salary Breakdown for San Diego
The median individual income in San Diego is $45,535 per year, which works out to approximately $3,795/month or $21.89/hour for full-time workers. The median household income is $89,457.
Cost of Living Adjusted Salary
San Diego's cost of living index is 160 (national average = 100). The median salary of $45,535 in San Diego has the purchasing power of approximately $28,459 at the national average cost of living. The high cost of living in San Diego means you need a significantly higher salary to maintain the same standard of living as cheaper cities.