San Diego ( , ) is a city on the
Pacific coast
Pacific coast may be used to reference any coastline that borders the Pacific Ocean.
Geography Americas North America
Countries on the western side of North America have a Pacific coast as their western or south-western border. One of th ...
of
Southern California
Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...
, adjacent to the
Mexico–United States border
The international border separating Mexico and the United States extends from the Pacific Ocean in the west to the Gulf of Mexico in the east. The border traverses a variety of terrains, ranging from urban areas to deserts. It is the List of ...
. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the
eighth-most populous city in the United States. San Diego is the
seat
A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but may also refer to concentrations of power in a wider sense (i.e " seat (legal entity)"). See disambiguation.
Types of seat
The ...
of
San Diego County
San Diego County (), officially the County of San Diego, is a county in the southwest corner of the U.S. state of California, north to its border with Mexico. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,298,634; it is the second-most populous ...
.
It is known for its mild
Mediterranean climate
A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typic ...
, extensive
beaches
A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from Rock (geology), rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle beach, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological s ...
and
parks, long association with the
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...
, and recent emergence as a
wireless
Wireless communication (or just wireless, when the context allows) is the transfer of information (''telecommunication'') between two or more points without the use of an electrical conductor, optical fiber or other continuous guided transm ...
,
electronics
Electronics is a scientific and engineering discipline that studies and applies the principles of physics to design, create, and operate devices that manipulate electrons and other Electric charge, electrically charged particles. It is a subfield ...
,
healthcare
Health care, or healthcare, is the improvement or maintenance of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wikt:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physic ...
, and
biotechnology
Biotechnology is a multidisciplinary field that involves the integration of natural sciences and Engineering Science, engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms and parts thereof for products and services. Specialists ...
development center.
Historically home to the
Kumeyaay
The Kumeyaay, also known as 'Iipai-Tiipai or by the historical Spanish name Diegueño, is a tribe of Indigenous peoples of the Americas who live at the northern border of Baja California in Mexico and the southern border of California in the Uni ...
people, San Diego has been referred to as the ''Birthplace of California'', as it was the first site visited and settled by Europeans on what is now the
West Coast of the United States
The West Coast of the United States, also known as the Pacific Coast and the Western Seaboard, is the coastline along which the Western United States meets the North Pacific Ocean. The term typically refers to the Contiguous United States, contig ...
. In 1542,
Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo
Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo (; 1497 – January 3, 1543) was a Portuguese maritime explorer best known for investigations of the west coast of North America, undertaken on behalf of the Spanish Empire. He was the first European to explore presen ...
claimed the area for
Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
, forming the basis for the settlement of
Alta California
Alta California (, ), also known as Nueva California () among other names, was a province of New Spain formally established in 1804. Along with the Baja California peninsula, it had previously comprised the province of , but was made a separat ...
, 200 years later. The
Presidio and
Mission San Diego de Alcalá
Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcalá (, lit. The Mission of Saint Didacus of Acalá) was the second Franciscan founded mission in the Californias (after San Fernando de Velicata), a province of New Spain. Located in present-day San Diego, C ...
, founded in 1769, formed the first European settlement in what is now California. In 1821, San Diego became part of the newly declared
Mexican Empire. California was
ceded to the U.S. in 1848 following the
Mexican–American War
The Mexican–American War (Spanish language, Spanish: ''guerra de Estados Unidos-México, guerra mexicano-estadounidense''), also known in the United States as the Mexican War, and in Mexico as the United States intervention in Mexico, ...
and was
admitted as the 31st state in 1850.
The largest sectors of the
economy of San Diego include military and defense-related activities, tourism, international trade, research, and manufacturing. The city is home to several universities, including
UC San Diego,
San Diego State University
San Diego State University (SDSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Diego, California, United States. Founded in 1897, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CS ...
, and the
University of San Diego
The University of San Diego (USD) is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in San Diego, California, United States. Chartered in 1949 as the independent San Diego College for Women and San Diego University ...
. San Diego is the economic center of the
San Diego–Tijuana
San Diego–Tijuana is an international transborder agglomeration, straddling the border of the adjacent North America, North American coastal cities of San Diego, California, United States, and Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. The 2020 popula ...
region, the second-most populous
transborder metropolitan area in the Western Hemisphere, home to an estimated five million people as of 2022. The primary border crossing between San Diego and
Tijuana
Tijuana is the most populous city of the Mexican state of Baja California, located on the northwestern Pacific Coast of Mexico. Tijuana is the municipal seat of the Tijuana Municipality, the hub of the Tijuana metropolitan area and the most popu ...
, the
San Ysidro Port of Entry
__NOTOC__
The San Ysidro Port of Entry (aka the San Ysidro Land Port of Entry or the San Ysidro LPOE) is the largest land border crossing between San Diego and Tijuana, and the fourth- busiest land border crossing in the world (second-busiest exc ...
, is the busiest international land border crossing in the world outside of Asia (
fourth-busiest overall).
San Diego International Airport (SAN) is the busiest single-runway airport in the United States.
Name
San Diego's name can be traced back to the 17th century when Spanish explorer
Sebastián Vizcaíno bestowed it upon the area in 1602. He named the bay and the surrounding area "San Diego de Alcalá" in honor of
Saint Didacus of Alcalá.
Prior to the Spanish establishment of San Diego, the
Kumeyaay
The Kumeyaay, also known as 'Iipai-Tiipai or by the historical Spanish name Diegueño, is a tribe of Indigenous peoples of the Americas who live at the northern border of Baja California in Mexico and the southern border of California in the Uni ...
town was called
Kosa'aay, meaning "drying out place" in the
Kumeyaay language.
After the establishment of San Diego, the Kumeyaay called town and city ''Tepacul Watai'', meaning "Stacked Big".
Luiseño
The Luiseño or Payómkawichum are an Indigenous people of California who, at the time of the first contacts with the Spanish in the 16th century, inhabited the coastal area of southern California, ranging from the present-day southern part of ...
speakers in the
North County region called it ''Pushuyi''.
History
Pre-colonial period
What has been referred to as the
San Dieguito complex was established in the area at least 9,000 years ago. The
Kumeyaay
The Kumeyaay, also known as 'Iipai-Tiipai or by the historical Spanish name Diegueño, is a tribe of Indigenous peoples of the Americas who live at the northern border of Baja California in Mexico and the southern border of California in the Uni ...
may have culturally evolved from this complex or migrated into the area around 1000 C.E. Archaeologist
Malcolm Rogers hypothesized that the early cultures of San Diego were separate from the Kumeyaay, but this claim is disputed.
Rogers later reevaluated his claims, yet they were influential in shaping historical tellings of early San Diego history.
The Kumeyaay established villages scattered across the region, including the village of
Kosa'aay which was the Kumeyaay village that the future settlement of San Diego would stem from in today's
Old Town
In a city or town, the old town is its historic or original core. Although the city is usually larger in its present form, many cities have redesignated this part of the city to commemorate its origins. In some cases, newer developments on t ...
.
The village of Kosa'aay was made up of thirty to forty families living in pyramid-shaped housing structures and was supported by a freshwater spring from the hillsides.
Spanish period
The first European to visit the region was explorer
Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo
Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo (; 1497 – January 3, 1543) was a Portuguese maritime explorer best known for investigations of the west coast of North America, undertaken on behalf of the Spanish Empire. He was the first European to explore presen ...
. Sailing his flagship ''San Salvador'' from
Navidad, New Spain, Cabrillo claimed the bay for the
Spanish Empire
The Spanish Empire, sometimes referred to as the Hispanic Monarchy (political entity), Hispanic Monarchy or the Catholic Monarchy, was a colonial empire that existed between 1492 and 1976. In conjunction with the Portuguese Empire, it ushered ...
in 1542, and named the site "San Miguel". In November 1602,
Sebastián Vizcaíno surveyed the harbor and what are now
Mission Bay and
Point Loma and named the area for the Catholic
Saint Didacus, a
Spaniard
Spaniards, or Spanish people, are a Romance languages, Romance-speaking Ethnicity, ethnic group native to the Iberian Peninsula, primarily associated with the modern Nation state, nation-state of Spain. Genetics, Genetically and Ethnolinguisti ...
more commonly known as ''San Diego de Alcalá''.
The permanent
European colonization of both California and San Diego began in 1769 with the arrival of four contingents of Spaniards from New Spain and the
Baja California
Baja California, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California, is a state in Mexico. It is the northwesternmost of the 32 federal entities of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1952, the area was known as the North Territory of B ...
peninsula. Two seaborne parties reached San Diego Bay: the ''San Carlos'', under Vicente Vila and including as notable members the engineer and cartographer
Miguel Costansó and the soldier and future governor
Pedro Fages, and the ''San Antonio'', under
Juan Pérez. An initial overland expedition to San Diego from the south was led by the soldier
Fernando Rivera and included the
Franciscan
The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...
missionary, explorer, and chronicler
Juan Crespí
Juan Crespí, OFM (Catalan language, Catalan: ''Joan Crespí''; 1 March 1721 – 1 January 1782) was a Franciscan missionary and explorer of The Californias, Las Californias.
Biography
A native of Majorca, Crespí entered the Franciscan ord ...
, followed by a second party led by the designated governor
Gaspar de Portolá
Captain Gaspar de Portolá y Rovira (January 1, 1716 – October 10, 1786) was a Spanish Army officer and colonial administrator who served as the first List of governors of California before 1850, governor of the Californias from 1767 to 1770 ...
and including the mission president
Junípero Serra
Saint Junípero Serra Ferrer (; ; November 24, 1713August 28, 1784), popularly known simply as Junipero Serra, was a Spanish Roman Catholic, Catholic priest and missionary of the Franciscan Order. He is credited with establishing the Francis ...
.
In May 1769, Portolà established the
Presidio of San Diego on a hill near the
San Diego River above the Kumeyaay village of Cosoy,
which would later become incorporated into the Spanish settlement,
making it the first settlement by Europeans in what is now the state of California. In July of the same year,
Mission San Diego de Alcalá
Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcalá (, lit. The Mission of Saint Didacus of Acalá) was the second Franciscan founded mission in the Californias (after San Fernando de Velicata), a province of New Spain. Located in present-day San Diego, C ...
was founded by Franciscan friars under Serra. The mission became a site for a Kumeyaay revolt in 1775, which forced the mission to relocate up the San Diego River. By 1797, the mission boasted the largest native population in Alta California, with over 1,400 neophytes living in and around the mission proper. Mission San Diego was the southern anchor in Alta California of the historic mission trail
El Camino Real. Both the Presidio and the Mission are
National Historic Landmarks
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...
.
Mexican period
In 1821, Mexico
won its independence from Spain, and San Diego became part of the Mexican territory of
Alta California
Alta California (, ), also known as Nueva California () among other names, was a province of New Spain formally established in 1804. Along with the Baja California peninsula, it had previously comprised the province of , but was made a separat ...
. In 1822, Mexico began its attempt to extend its authority over the coastal territory of Alta California. The fort on Presidio Hill was gradually abandoned, while the town of San Diego grew up on the level land below Presidio Hill. The Mission was
secularized by the Mexican government in 1834, and most of the Mission lands were granted to former soldiers. The 432
residents of the town petitioned the governor to form a
pueblo
Pueblo refers to the settlements of the Pueblo peoples, Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, currently in New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas. The permanent communities, including some of the oldest continually occupied settlement ...
, and
Juan María Osuna was elected the first ''
alcalde
''Alcalde'' (; ) is the traditional Spanish municipal magistrate, who had both judicial and Administration (government), administrative functions. An ''alcalde'' was, in the absence of a corregidor (position), corregidor, the presiding officer o ...
'' ("municipal magistrate"). Beyond the town, Mexican
land grant
A land grant is a gift of real estate—land or its use privileges—made by a government or other authority as an incentive, means of enabling works, or as a reward for services to an individual, especially in return for military service. Grants ...
s expanded the number of
California ranchos that modestly added to the local economy.
However, San Diego had been losing population throughout the 1830s, due to increasing tension between the settlers and the indigenous
Kumeyaay
The Kumeyaay, also known as 'Iipai-Tiipai or by the historical Spanish name Diegueño, is a tribe of Indigenous peoples of the Americas who live at the northern border of Baja California in Mexico and the southern border of California in the Uni ...
and in 1838 the town lost its pueblo status because its size dropped to an estimated 100 to 150 residents. The
ranchos in the San Diego region faced Kumeyaay raids in the late 1830s and the town itself faced raids in the 1840s.
Americans gained an increased awareness of California, and its commercial possibilities, from the writings of two countrymen involved in the often officially forbidden, to foreigners, but economically significant hide and tallow trade, where San Diego was a major port and the only one with an adequate harbor:
William Shaler's "Journal of a Voyage Between China and the North-Western Coast of America, Made in 1804" and
Richard Henry Dana's more substantial and convincing account, of his 1834–36 voyage, ''
Two Years Before the Mast
''Two Years Before the Mast'' is a memoir by the American author Richard Henry Dana Jr., published in 1840, having been written after a two-year sea voyage from Boston to California on a merchant ship starting in 1834. A Two Years Before the Mast ...
''.

In 1846, the United States went to war against Mexico and sent a naval and land
expedition to conquer Alta California. At first, they had an easy time of it, capturing the major ports including San Diego, but the Californios in southern Alta California struck back. Following the successful revolt in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
, the American garrison at San Diego was driven out without firing a shot in early October 1846. Mexican partisans held San Diego for three weeks until October 24, 1846, when the Americans recaptured it. For the next several months the Americans were blockaded inside the pueblo. Skirmishes occurred daily and snipers shot into the town every night. The Californios drove cattle away from the pueblo hoping to starve the Americans and their Californio supporters out. On December 1, the American garrison learned that the dragoons of General
Stephen W. Kearney were at
Warner's Ranch. Commodore
Robert F. Stockton sent a mounted force of fifty under Captain
Archibald Gillespie to march north to meet him. Their joint command of 150 men, returning to San Diego, encountered about 93 Californios under
Andrés Pico
Andrés Pico (November 18, 1810 – February 14, 1876) was a Californio who became a successful rancher, fought in the contested Battle of San Pascual during the Mexican–American War, and negotiated promises of post-war protections for Calif ...
.

In the ensuing
Battle of San Pasqual
The Battle of San Pasqual, also spelled San Pascual, was a military encounter that occurred during the Mexican–American War in what is now the San Pasqual Valley, San Diego, California, San Pasqual Valley community in the county of San Diego, ...
, fought in the
San Pasqual Valley which is now part of the city of San Diego, the Americans suffered their worst losses in the campaign. Subsequently, a column led by Lieutenant Gray arrived from San Diego, rescuing Kearny's command. Stockton and Kearny went on to recover Los Angeles and force the capitulation of Alta California with the "
Treaty of Cahuenga" on January 13, 1847. As a result of the
Mexican–American War
The Mexican–American War (Spanish language, Spanish: ''guerra de Estados Unidos-México, guerra mexicano-estadounidense''), also known in the United States as the Mexican War, and in Mexico as the United States intervention in Mexico, ...
of 1846–48, the territory of Alta California, including San Diego, was ceded to the United States by Mexico, under the terms of the
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo officially ended the Mexican–American War (1846–1848). It was signed on 2 February 1848 in the town of Villa de Guadalupe, Mexico City, Guadalupe Hidalgo.
After the defeat of its army and the fall of the cap ...
in 1848. The Mexican negotiators of that treaty tried to retain San Diego as part of Mexico, but the Americans insisted that San Diego was "for every commercial purpose of nearly equal importance to us with that of San Francisco", and the Mexican–American border was eventually established to be one league south of the southernmost point of
San Diego Bay
San Diego Bay is a natural harbor and deepwater port in San Diego County, California, near the Mexico–United States border. The bay, which is long and wide, is the third largest of the three large, protected natural bays on California's of ...
.
American period

The state of California was admitted to the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
in 1850. That same year San Diego was designated the seat of the newly established County of San Diego and was incorporated as a city.
Joshua H. Bean, the last alcalde of San Diego, was elected the first mayor. Two years later the city was bankrupt; the California legislature revoked the city's charter and placed it under control of a board of trustees, where it remained until 1889. A city charter was reestablished in 1889, and today's city charter was adopted in 1931.
The original town of San Diego was located at the foot of Presidio Hill, in the area which is now
Old Town San Diego State Historic Park. The location was not ideal, being several miles away from navigable water at its port at
La Playa. In 1850,
William Heath Davis promoted a new development by the bay shore called "New San Diego", several miles south of the original settlement; however, for several decades the new development consisted only of a pier, a few houses and an
Army depot for the support of
Fort Yuma. After 1854, the fort became supplied by sea and by
steamboats on the Colorado River and the depot fell into disuse. From 1857 to 1860, San Diego became the western terminus of the
San Antonio-San Diego Mail Line, the earliest overland
stagecoach
A stagecoach (also: stage coach, stage, road coach, ) is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by ...
and mail operation from the
Eastern United States
The Eastern United States, often abbreviated as simply the East, is a macroregion of the United States located to the east of the Mississippi River. It includes 17–26 states and Washington, D.C., the national capital.
As of 2011, the Eastern ...
to California, coming from
Texas
Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
through
New Mexico Territory
The Territory of New Mexico was an organized incorporated territory of the United States from September 9, 1850, until January 6, 1912. It was created from the U.S. provisional government of New Mexico, as a result of '' Nuevo México'' becomi ...
in less than 30 days.
[Basil C. Pearce]
"The Jackass Mail—San Antonio and San Diego Mail Line"
''San Diego Historical Society Quarterly'', Spring 1969, Volume 15, Number 2
In the late 1860s,
Alonzo Horton promoted a move to the bayside area, which he called "New Town" and which became
downtown San Diego. Horton promoted the area heavily, and people and businesses began to relocate to New Town because its location on
San Diego Bay
San Diego Bay is a natural harbor and deepwater port in San Diego County, California, near the Mexico–United States border. The bay, which is long and wide, is the third largest of the three large, protected natural bays on California's of ...
was convenient to shipping. New Town soon eclipsed the original settlement, known to this day as
Old Town
In a city or town, the old town is its historic or original core. Although the city is usually larger in its present form, many cities have redesignated this part of the city to commemorate its origins. In some cases, newer developments on t ...
, and became the economic and governmental heart of the city.
Still, San Diego remained a relative backwater town until the arrival of a railroad connection in 1878.
In 1912, San Diego was the site of a
free speech fight between the
Industrial Workers of the World
The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), whose members are nicknamed "Wobblies", is an international labor union founded in Chicago, United States in 1905. The nickname's origin is uncertain. Its ideology combines general unionism with indu ...
and the city government who passed an ordinance forbidding the
freedom of speech
Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The rights, right to freedom of expression has been r ...
along an area of "Soapbox Row" that led to civil disobedience,
vigilantism
Vigilantism () is the act of preventing, investigating, and punishing perceived offenses and crimes without legal authority.
A vigilante is a person who practices or partakes in vigilantism, or undertakes public safety and retributive justice ...
,
police violence, the abduction of
Emma Goldman
Emma Goldman (June 27, 1869 – May 14, 1940) was a Russian-born Anarchism, anarchist revolutionary, political activist, and writer. She played a pivotal role in the development of anarchist political philosophy in North America and Europ ...
's husband
Ben Reitman and
multiple riots. San Diego's proximity to Tijuana during the
Mexican Revolution
The Mexican Revolution () was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from 20 November 1910 to 1 December 1920. It has been called "the defining event of modern Mexican history". It saw the destruction of the Federal Army, its ...
made this one of the most significant
free speech fights during the
Wobbly era.
In 1916, the neighborhood of
Stingaree, the original home of San Diego's first
Chinatown
Chinatown ( zh, t=唐人街) is the catch-all name for an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, Asia, Africa, O ...
and "Soapbox Row", was demolished by anti-
vice
A vice is a practice, behaviour, Habit (psychology), habit or item generally considered morally wrong in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character trait, a defect, an infirmity, or a bad or unhe ...
campaigners to make way for the
Gaslamp Quarter.
In the early part of the 20th century, San Diego hosted the
World's Fair
A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition, is a large global exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specific site for a perio ...
twice: the
Panama–California Exposition in 1915 and the
California Pacific International Exposition in 1935. Both expositions were held in
Balboa Park, and many of the Spanish/Baroque-style buildings that were built for those expositions remain to this day as central features of the park. The menagerie of exotic animals featured at the 1915 exposition provided the basis for the
San Diego Zoo
The San Diego Zoo is a zoo in San Diego, California, United States, located in Balboa Park (San Diego), Balboa Park. It began with a collection of animals left over from the 1915 Panama–California Exposition that were brought together by its ...
. During the 1950s there was a citywide festival called
Fiesta del Pacifico highlighting the area's Spanish and Mexican past.
The southern portion of the
Point Loma peninsula was set aside for military purposes as early as 1852. Over the next several decades the
Army
An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...
set up a series of coastal artillery batteries and named the area
Fort Rosecrans. Significant U.S. Navy presence began in 1901 with the establishment of the Navy Coaling Station in Point Loma, and expanded greatly during the 1920s. By 1930, the city was host to
Naval Base San Diego
Naval Base San Diego is a United States Navy base in San Diego, California. It is the world's second largest surface ship naval base. Naval Base San Diego is the principal homeport of the United States Pacific Fleet, consisting of over 50 ships ...
,
Naval Training Center San Diego,
San Diego Naval Hospital,
Camp Matthews, and
Camp Kearny (now
Marine Corps Air Station Miramar
Marine Corps Air Station Miramar (MCAS Miramar) is a United States Marine Corps installation that is home to the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, which is the aviation element of the I Marine Expeditionary Force. It is located in Miramar, a commu ...
). The city was also an early center for aviation: as early as World War I, San Diego was proclaiming itself "The Air Capital of the West".
The city was home to important airplane developers and manufacturers like Ryan Airlines (later
Ryan Aeronautical), founded in 1925, and
Consolidated Aircraft
The Consolidated Aircraft Corporation was founded in 1923 in aviation, 1923 by Reuben H. Fleet in Buffalo, New York, the result of the Gallaudet Aircraft Company's liquidation and Fleet's purchase of designs from the Dayton-Wright Company as the ...
(later
Convair), founded in 1923.
Charles A. Lindbergh's plane, the ''
Spirit of St. Louis'', was built in San Diego in 1927 by Ryan Airlines.
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, San Diego became a major hub of military and defense activity, due to the presence of so many military installations and defense manufacturers. The city's population grew rapidly during and after World War II, more than doubling between 1930 (147,995) and 1950 (333,865).
[Moffatt, Riley. ''Population History of Western U.S. Cities & Towns, 1850–1990''. Lanham: Scarecrow, 1996, 54.] During the final months of the war, the Japanese had a plan to target multiple U.S. cities for
biological attack, starting with San Diego. The plan was called "
Operation Cherry Blossoms at Night" and called for
kamikaze planes filled with fleas infected with plague (''
Yersinia pestis
''Yersinia pestis'' (''Y. pestis''; formerly ''Pasteurella pestis'') is a Gram-negative bacteria, gram-negative, non-motile bacteria, non-motile, coccobacillus Bacteria, bacterium without Endospore, spores. It is related to pathogens ''Yer ...
'') to crash into civilian population centers in the city, hoping to spread plague in the city and effectively kill tens of thousands of civilians. The plan was scheduled to launch on September 22, 1945, but was not carried out because
Japan surrendered five weeks earlier.
After World War II, the military continued to play a major role in the local economy, but post–
Cold War
The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...
cutbacks took a heavy toll on the local defense and aerospace industries. The resulting downturn led San Diego leaders to seek to diversify the city's economy by focusing on research and science, as well as tourism.
In the early 1960s,
Tom Hom would become the first Asian American member of the San Diego City Council. He would be succeeded by
Leon Williams, the first Black member of the city council.

From the start of the 20th century through the 1970s, the American
tuna
A tuna (: tunas or tuna) is a saltwater fish that belongs to the tribe Thunnini, a subgrouping of the Scombridae ( mackerel) family. The Thunnini comprise 15 species across five genera, the sizes of which vary greatly, ranging from the bul ...
fishing fleet and tuna canning industry were based in San Diego, "the tuna capital of the world".
San Diego's first tuna cannery was founded in 1911, and by the mid-1930s the canneries employed more than 1,000 people. A large fishing fleet supported the canneries, mostly staffed by immigrant fishermen from
Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
, and later from the
Azores
The Azores ( , , ; , ), officially the Autonomous Region of the Azores (), is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal (along with Madeira). It is an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the Macaronesia region of the North Atl ...
and
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
whose influence is still felt in neighborhoods like
Little Italy
Little Italy is the catch-all name for an ethnic enclave populated primarily by Italians or people of Italian ancestry, usually in an Urban area, urban neighborhood. The concept of "Little Italy" holds many different aspects of the Italian cul ...
and
Point Loma. Due to rising costs and foreign competition, the last of the canneries closed in the early 1980s.
Downtown San Diego was in decline in the 1960s and 1970s, but experienced some urban renewal since the early 1980s, including the opening of
Horton Plaza, the revival of the Gaslamp Quarter, and the construction of the
San Diego Convention Center;
Petco Park opened in 2004.
Outside of downtown, San Diego annexed large swaths of land and for suburban expansion to the north and control of the
San Ysidro Port of Entry
__NOTOC__
The San Ysidro Port of Entry (aka the San Ysidro Land Port of Entry or the San Ysidro LPOE) is the largest land border crossing between San Diego and Tijuana, and the fourth- busiest land border crossing in the world (second-busiest exc ...
.
As the
Cold War
The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...
ended, the military shrank and so did defense spending. San Diego has since become a center of the emerging biotech industry and is home to telecommunications giant
Qualcomm
Qualcomm Incorporated () is an American multinational corporation headquartered in San Diego, California, and Delaware General Corporation Law, incorporated in Delaware. It creates semiconductors, software and services related to wireless techn ...
. San Diego had also grown in the tourism industry with the popularity of attractions such as the
San Diego Zoo
The San Diego Zoo is a zoo in San Diego, California, United States, located in Balboa Park (San Diego), Balboa Park. It began with a collection of animals left over from the 1915 Panama–California Exposition that were brought together by its ...
,
SeaWorld San Diego
SeaWorld San Diego is a theme park in Mission Bay Park in San Diego, California. It is a marine mammal park, oceanarium, public aquarium, and marine animal rehabilitation center. SeaWorld, the theme park's proprietor, is owned and operated by Un ...
, and
Legoland California in
Carlsbad.
Geography
According to SDSU professor emeritus Monte Marshall,
San Diego Bay
San Diego Bay is a natural harbor and deepwater port in San Diego County, California, near the Mexico–United States border. The bay, which is long and wide, is the third largest of the three large, protected natural bays on California's of ...
is "the surface expression of a north-south-trending, nested
graben
In geology, a graben () is a depression (geology), depressed block of the Crust (geology), crust of a planet or moon, bordered by parallel normal faults.
Etymology
''Graben'' is a loan word from German language, German, meaning 'ditch' or 't ...
". The
Rose Canyon and
Point Loma fault zones are part of the
San Andreas Fault
The San Andreas Fault is a continental Fault (geology)#Strike-slip faults, right-lateral strike-slip transform fault that extends roughly through the U.S. state of California. It forms part of the tectonics, tectonic boundary between the Paci ...
system. About east of the bay are the
Laguna Mountains in the
Peninsular Ranges, which are part of the
American Cordillera
The American Cordillera ( ) is a chain of mountain ranges (cordilleras), consisting of an almost continuous sequence of mountain ranges that form the western "backbone" of the Americas. Aconcagua is the highest peak of the chain. It is also the ...
.
The city lies on approximately 200 deep canyons and hills separating its
mesa
A mesa is an isolated, flat-topped elevation, ridge, or hill, bounded from all sides by steep escarpments and standing distinctly above a surrounding plain. Mesas consist of flat-lying soft sedimentary rocks, such as shales, capped by a ...
s, creating small pockets of natural open space scattered throughout the city and giving it a hilly geography. Traditionally, San Diegans have built their homes and businesses on the mesas, while leaving the urban canyons relatively wild. Thus, the canyons give parts of the city a segmented feel, creating gaps between otherwise proximate neighborhoods and contributing to a low-density, car-centered environment. The
San Diego River runs through the middle of San Diego from east to west, creating a river valley that serves to divide the city into northern and southern segments. Several reservoirs and
Mission Trails Regional Park also lie between and separate developed areas of the city.

Notable peaks within the city limits include
Cowles Mountain, the highest point in the city at ;
Black Mountain at ; and
Mount Soledad at . The
Cuyamaca Mountains
The Cuyamaca Mountains (Kumeyaay language, Kumeyaay: ''‘Ekwiiyemak''), locally the Cuyamacas, are a mountain range of the Peninsular Ranges in San Diego County, California. The mountain range runs roughly northwest to southeast. The Laguna Mount ...
and Laguna Mountains rise to the east of the city, and beyond the mountains are desert areas.
Cleveland National Forest
Cleveland National Forest is a National forest (United States), U.S. national forest in Southern California that encompasses 460,000 acres/ of inland Montane ecosystems, montane regions. It is approximately 60 miles from the Pacific Ocean, withi ...
is a half-hour drive from downtown San Diego. Numerous farms are found in the valleys northeast and southeast of the city.
Climate
Under the
Köppen–Geiger climate classification system, the San Diego area has been variously categorized as having either a
hot semi-arid climate
A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of sem ...
(''
BSh'' in the original classification and ''BSkn'' in modified Köppen classification with the n denoting summer fog) or a
hot-summer Mediterranean climate
A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typic ...
(''Csa''). San Diego's climate is characterized by warm, dry summers and mild winters, with most of the annual precipitation falling between December and March. The city has a mild climate year-round, with an average of 201 days above and low rainfall ( annually).
The climate in San Diego, like most of Southern California, often varies significantly over short geographical distances, resulting in
microclimate
A microclimate (or micro-climate) is a local set of atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric conditions that differ from those in the surrounding areas, often slightly but sometimes substantially. The term may refer to areas as small as a few square m ...
s. In San Diego, this is mostly because of the city's topography (the Bay, and the numerous hills, mountains, and canyons). Frequently, particularly during the "May gray/
June gloom" period, a thick "
marine layer
A marine layer is an air mass that develops over the surface of a large body of water, such as an ocean or large lake, in the presence of a Inversion (meteorology), temperature inversion. The inversion itself is usually initiated by the cooling ...
" cloud cover keeps the air cool and damp within a few miles of the coast, but yields to bright cloudless sunshine approximately inland. Sometimes the June gloom lasts into July, causing cloudy skies over most of San Diego for the entire day.
Even in the absence of June gloom, inland areas experience much more significant temperature variations than coastal areas, where the ocean serves as a moderating influence. Thus, for example, downtown San Diego averages January lows of and August highs of . The city of
El Cajon, just inland from downtown San Diego, averages January lows of and August highs of .
The average surface temperature of the water at Scripps Pier in the
California Current has increased by almost since 1950, according to scientists at
Scripps Institution of Oceanography
Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) is the center for oceanography and Earth science at the University of California, San Diego. Its main campus is located in La Jolla, with additional facilities in Point Loma.
Founded in 1903 and incorpo ...
. Additionally, the mean minimum is now above , putting San Diego in
hardiness zone
A hardiness zone is a geographic area defined as having a certain average annual minimum temperature, a factor relevant to the survival of many plants. In some systems other statistics are included in the calculations. The original and most widely ...
11, with the last freeze having occurred many decades ago.

Annual rainfall along the coast averages and the median is . The months of December through March supply most of the rain, with February the only month averaging or more. The months of May through September tend to be almost completely dry. Although there are few wet days per month during the rainy period, rainfall can be heavy when it does fall. Rainfall is usually greater in the higher elevations of San Diego; some of the higher areas can receive per year. Variability from year to year can be dramatic: in the wettest years of 1883/1884 and 1940/1941, more than fell, whilst in the driest years there was as little as . The wettest month on record is December 1921 with .
Snow in the city is rare, having been observed only six times in the century and a half that records have been kept. On February 21, 2019, snow fell and accumulated in residential areas of the city, but none fell in the downtown area.
Ecology

Like much of
Southern California
Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...
, the majority of San Diego's current area was originally occupied on the west by
coastal sage scrub
Coastal sage scrub, also known as coastal scrub, CSS, or soft chaparral, is a low scrubland plant community of the California coastal sage and chaparral subecoregion, found in coastal California and northwestern coastal Baja California. It is ...
and on the east by
chaparral
Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant plant community, community found primarily in California, southern Oregon, and northern Baja California. It is shaped by a Mediterranean climate (mild wet winters and hot dry summers) and infrequent, high-intens ...
, plant communities made up mostly of drought-resistant shrubs. The steep and varied topography and proximity to the ocean create a number of different habitats within the city limits, including
tidal marsh and
canyons
A canyon (; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), gorge or chasm, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tendency t ...
. The chaparral and coastal sage scrub habitats in low elevations along the coast are prone to
wildfire
A wildfire, forest fire, or a bushfire is an unplanned and uncontrolled fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identified as a ...
, and the rates of fire increased in the 20th century, due primarily to fires starting near the borders of urban and wild areas.
San Diego's broad city limits encompass a number of large nature preserves, including
Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve
Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve is a coastal state park in San Diego, California. The reserve is one of the wildest stretches of land on the Southern California coast, covering . It is bordered immediately to the south by Torrey Pines Golf Co ...
,
Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve, and
Mission Trails Regional Park. Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve and a coastal strip continuing to the north constitute one of only two locations where the rare species of Torrey Pine, ''
Pinus torreyana'', is found.
Due to the steep topography that prevents or discourages building, along with some efforts for preservation, there are also a large number of canyons within the city limits that serve as nature preserves, including
Switzer Canyon, Tecolote Canyon Natural Park,
and Marian Bear Memorial Park in
San Clemente Canyon,
as well as a number of small parks and preserves.

San Diego County has one of the highest counts of animal and plant species that appear on the
endangered list of counties in the United States.
Because of its diversity of habitat and its position on the
Pacific Flyway, San Diego County has recorded 492 different bird species, more than any other region in the country. San Diego always scores high in the number of bird species observed in the annual
Christmas Bird Count, sponsored by the
Audubon Society, and it is known as one of the "birdiest" areas in the United States.
San Diego and its backcountry suffer from periodic wildfires. In October 2003, San Diego was the site of the
Cedar Fire, at that time the largest wildfire in California over the past century.
The fire burned , killed 15 people, and destroyed more than 2,200 homes. In addition to damage caused by the fire, smoke resulted in a significant increase in emergency room visits; the poor air quality caused San Diego County schools to close for a week. The
October 2007 California wildfires destroyed some areas, particularly within
Rancho Bernardo, as well as the nearby communities of
Rancho Santa Fe and
Ramona.
Neighborhoods
The City of San Diego recognizes 52 individual areas as Community Planning Areas. Within a given planning area there may be several distinct neighborhoods. Altogether the city contains more than 100 identified
neighborhoods.
Downtown San Diego is located on
San Diego Bay
San Diego Bay is a natural harbor and deepwater port in San Diego County, California, near the Mexico–United States border. The bay, which is long and wide, is the third largest of the three large, protected natural bays on California's of ...
.
Balboa Park encompasses several mesas and canyons to the northeast, surrounded by older, dense urban communities including
Hillcrest and
North Park. To the east and southeast lie
City Heights, the
College Area, and
Southeast San Diego. To the north lies
Mission Valley
Mission Valley is a wide river valley trending east–west in San Diego, California, United States, through which the San Diego River flows to the Pacific Ocean. For planning purposes the City of San Diego divides it into two neighborhoods: Mi ...
and
Interstate 8. The communities north of the valley and freeway, and south of
Marine Corps Air Station Miramar
Marine Corps Air Station Miramar (MCAS Miramar) is a United States Marine Corps installation that is home to the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, which is the aviation element of the I Marine Expeditionary Force. It is located in Miramar, a commu ...
, include
Clairemont,
Kearny Mesa,
Tierrasanta, and
Navajo
The Navajo or Diné are an Indigenous people of the Southwestern United States. Their traditional language is Diné bizaad, a Southern Athabascan language.
The states with the largest Diné populations are Arizona (140,263) and New Mexico (1 ...
. Stretching north from Miramar are the northern suburbs of
Mira Mesa,
Scripps Ranch,
Rancho Peñasquitos, and
Rancho Bernardo. The far northeast portion of the city encompasses
Lake Hodges and the
San Pasqual Valley, which holds an agricultural preserve.
Carmel Valley and
Del Mar Heights occupy the northwest corner of the city. To their south are
Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve
Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve is a coastal state park in San Diego, California. The reserve is one of the wildest stretches of land on the Southern California coast, covering . It is bordered immediately to the south by Torrey Pines Golf Co ...
and the business center of the
Golden Triangle. Further south are the beach and coastal communities of
La Jolla
La Jolla ( , ) is a hilly, seaside neighborhood in San Diego, California, occupying of curving coastline along the Pacific Ocean. The population reported in the 2010 census was 46,781. The climate is mild, with an average daily temperature o ...
,
Pacific Beach,
Mission Beach, and
Ocean Beach.
Point Loma occupies the peninsula across San Diego Bay from downtown. The communities of
South San Diego (an
Exclave
An enclave is a territory that is entirely surrounded by the territory of only one other state or entity. An enclave can be an independent territory or part of a larger one. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is s ...
), such as
San Ysidro and
Otay Mesa, are located next to the
Mexico–United States border
The international border separating Mexico and the United States extends from the Pacific Ocean in the west to the Gulf of Mexico in the east. The border traverses a variety of terrains, ranging from urban areas to deserts. It is the List of ...
, and are physically separated from the rest of the city by the cities of
National City and
Chula Vista. A narrow strip of land at the bottom of San Diego Bay connects these southern neighborhoods with the rest of the city.
neighborhoods in San Diego">
File:La Jolla Shores photo D Ramey Logan (cropped).jpg, La Jolla
La Jolla ( , ) is a hilly, seaside neighborhood in San Diego, California, occupying of curving coastline along the Pacific Ocean. The population reported in the 2010 census was 46,781. The climate is mild, with an average daily temperature o ...
File:North Park, San Diego, CA, USA - panoramio (11) (cropped).jpg, North Park
File:La Playa, San Diego, CA, USA - panoramio (10) (cropped).jpg, Point Loma
File:East Village, San Diego, CA, USA - panoramio (24).jpg, East Village
File:Gaslamp Quarter, San Diego-1.jpg, Gaslamp Quarter
File:Guild Theater, San Diego.jpg, Hillcrest
File:University of San Diego (cropped).jpg, Linda Vista
File:San Diego - California - Yacht Harbor with Hotels (cropped).jpg, Columbia
File:Normal Height's sign, Adams Avenue.jpg, Normal Heights
File:Rancho Bernardo View (cropped).jpg, Rancho Bernardo
File:Marina, San Diego, CA, USA - panoramio (35) (cropped).jpg, Marina district
For the most part, San Diego neighborhood boundaries tend to be understood by its residents based on geographical boundaries like canyons and street patterns. The city recognized the importance of its neighborhoods when it organized its 2008 General Plan around the concept of a "City of Villages".
Cityscape
San Diego was originally centered on the
Old Town
In a city or town, the old town is its historic or original core. Although the city is usually larger in its present form, many cities have redesignated this part of the city to commemorate its origins. In some cases, newer developments on t ...
district, but by the late 1860s the focus had shifted to the bayfront, in the belief that this new location would increase trade. As the "New Town" – present-day Downtown – waterfront location quickly developed, it eclipsed Old Town as the center of San Diego.
The first skyscraper over in San Diego was the
El Cortez Hotel, built in 1927; it was the tallest building in the city until 1963. As time went on, multiple buildings claimed the title of San Diego's tallest skyscraper, including the
530 B Street and
Symphony Towers. Currently the tallest building in San Diego is
One America Plaza, standing tall, which was completed in 1991.
The downtown skyline contains no
supertall buildings due to a regulation put in place by the
Federal Aviation Administration
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is a Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government agency within the United States Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Transportation that regulates civil aviation in t ...
(FAA) in the 1970s, which set a limit on the height of buildings within a radius of
San Diego International Airport.
An iconic description of the skyline includes its skyscrapers being compared to the tools of a toolbox.
There are
several new high-rises under construction, including two that exceed 400 feet (122 m) in height.
Demographics
2020
2010
The city had a population of 1,307,402 according to the 2010 census, distributed over a land area of . The urban area of San Diego had a total population of 2,956,746, making it the
third-largest in the state, after those of
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
and
San Francisco
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
.
The 2010 population represented an increase of just under 7% from the 1,223,400 people reported in 2000.
The population density was . The racial makeup of San Diego was 58.9%
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 6.7% African American, 0.6% Native American, 15.9%
Asian (5.9%
Filipino, 2.7%
Chinese, 2.5%
Vietnamese, 1.3%
Indian, 1.0%
Korean, 0.7%
Japanese, 0.4%
Laotian, 0.3%
Cambodian, 0.1%
Thai). 0.5%
Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...
(0.2%
Guamanian, 0.1%
Samoan, 0.1%
Native Hawaiian
Native Hawaiians (also known as Indigenous Hawaiians, Kānaka Maoli, Aboriginal Hawaiians, or simply Hawaiians; , , , and ) are the Indigenous peoples of Oceania, Indigenous Polynesians, Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands.
Hawaiʻi was set ...
), 12.3% from
other races, and 5.1% from two or more races. 28.8% of the population was
Hispanic
The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
or
Latino (of any race);
24.9% of the total population was of
Mexican heritage, 1.4%
Spanish and 0.6%
Puerto Rican. The median age of Hispanic residents was 27.5 years, compared to 35.1 years overall and 41.6 years among non-Hispanic whites; Hispanic San Diegans were the largest group under the age of 18, while non-Hispanic whites constituted 63.1% of population 55 and older.
, the San Diego City and County had the fifth-largest
homeless
Homelessness, also known as houselessness or being unhoused or unsheltered, is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and functional housing. It includes living on the streets, moving between temporary accommodation with family or friends, liv ...
population among major cities in the United States, with 8,102 people experiencing homelessness. In the city of San Diego, 4,887 individuals were experiencing homelessness according to the 2020 count. A December 11, 2023, article in ''
The San Diego Union-Tribune
''The San Diego Union-Tribune'' is a metropolitan daily newspaper published in San Diego, California, that has run since 1868. Its name derives from a 1992 merger between the two major daily newspapers at the time, ''The San Diego Union'' and ...
'' by Blake Nelson reports a notable decline in the homeless population in downtown San Diego, specifically in the urban core. According to data from the Downtown San Diego Partnership, the number of individuals living outside or in vehicles has reached a two-year low, standing at approximately 1,200 as of last month. The decrease is attributed to the implementation of the city's camping ban and the concerted efforts to establish new shelters. While enforcement has led to relatively few individuals being punished, the threat of legal consequences appears to have played a role in the reduction.
In 2000 there were 451,126 households, out of which 30.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.6% were married couples living together, 11.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.8% were non-families. Households made up of individuals account for 28.0%, and 7.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.61, and the average family size was 3.30.
The U.S. Census Bureau reported that in 2000, 24.0% of San Diego residents were under 18, and 10.5% were 65 and over.
the median age was 35.6; more than a quarter of residents were under age 20 and 11% were over age 65.
Millennials
Millennials, also known as Generation Y or Gen Y, are the demographic cohort following Generation X and preceding Generation Z. Researchers and popular media use the early 1980s as starting birth years and the mid-1990s to early 2000s a ...
(ages 26 through 42) constitute 27.1% of San Diego's population, the second-highest percentage in a major U.S. city. The San Diego County regional planning agency, SANDAG, provides tables and graphs breaking down the city population into five-year age groups.
In 2000, the
median income for a household in the city was $45,733, and the median income for a family was $53,060. Males had a median income of $36,984 versus $31,076 for females. The per capita income for the city was $35,199.
According to ''
Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...
'' in 2005, San Diego was the fifth wealthiest U.S. city,
but about 10.6% of families and 14.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 20.0% of those under age 18 and 7.6% of those age 65 or over.
As of January 1, 2008, estimates by the
San Diego Association of Governments
The San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) is the metropolitan planning organization (MPO) for San Diego County, California. It is an association of local county governments, with policy makers consisting of mayors, councilmembers, and Coun ...
revealed that the household median income for San Diego rose to $66,715, up from $45,733 in 2000.
San Diego was named the ninth-most
LGBT
LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...
-friendly city in the U.S. in 2013. The city also has the
seventh-highest population of gay residents in the U.S. Additionally in 2013,
San Diego State University
San Diego State University (SDSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Diego, California, United States. Founded in 1897, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CS ...
(SDSU), one of the city's prominent universities, was named one of the top LGBT-friendly campuses in the nation.
Religion
According to a 2014 study by the
Pew Research Center
The Pew Research Center (also simply known as Pew) is a nonpartisan American think tank based in Washington, D.C. It provides information on social issues, public opinion, and demographic trends shaping the United States and the world. It ...
, 68% of the population of the city identified themselves as
Christians
A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...
, with 32% professing adherence to various
Protestant
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...
churches and 32% professing
Roman Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
beliefs. while 27% claim
no religious affiliation. The same study found that followers of other religions (including
Judaism
Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...
,
Buddhism
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
,
Islam
Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
, and
Hinduism
Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...
) collectively made up about 5% of the population.
Foreign-born population
The majority of San Diego's foreign-born population were born in Mexico, the
Philippines
The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
, China and
Vietnam
Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...
.
Economy

The largest sectors of San Diego's economy are
defense/military,
tourism
Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...
,
international trade
International trade is the exchange of capital, goods, and services across international borders or territories because there is a need or want of goods or services. (See: World economy.)
In most countries, such trade represents a significan ...
, and
research
Research is creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge. It involves the collection, organization, and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness to ...
/
manufacturing
Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of the
secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer ...
.
San Diego recorded a
median household income
The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two groups, half having an income above that amount, and half having an income below that amount. It may differ from the mean (or average) income. Both of these are ways of und ...
of $79,646 in 2018, an increase of 3.89% from $76,662 in 2017.
[San Diego](_blank)
''DataUSA'' The median property value in San Diego in 2018 was $654,700,
and the average home has two cars per household.
Top employers
According to the city's 2024 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report,
[City of San Diego, California Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, Year ended June 30, 2021](_blank)
page 297 the top employers in the city are:
Defense and military
The economy of San Diego is influenced by
its deepwater port, which includes the only major submarine and shipbuilding yards on the
West Coast. Several major national
defense contractor
A defense contractor is a business organization or individual that provides products or services to a military or intelligence department of a government. Products typically include military or civilian aircraft, ships, vehicles, weaponry, and ...
s were started and are headquartered in San Diego, including
General Atomics,
Cubic
Cubic may refer to:
Science and mathematics
* Cube (algebra), "cubic" measurement
* Cube, a three-dimensional solid object bounded by six square faces, facets or sides, with three meeting at each vertex
** Cubic crystal system, a crystal system w ...
, and
NASSCO.
San Diego hosts the largest naval fleet in the world: In 2008 it was home to 53 ships, over 120 tenant commands, and more than 35,000 sailors, marines,
Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and supervising the six U.S. armed services: the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Space Force, ...
civilian employees and contractors.
About 5 percent of all civilian jobs in the county are military-related, and 15,000 businesses in San Diego County rely on Department of Defense contracts.
Military bases in San Diego include
US Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...
facilities,
Marine Corps bases, and
Coast Guard
A coast guard or coastguard is a Maritime Security Regimes, maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with cust ...
stations.
The city is "home to the majority of the U.S. Pacific Fleet's surface combatants, all of the Navy's West Coast amphibious ships and a variety of Coast Guard and Military Sealift Command vessels".
The military infrastructure in San Diego is still growing and developing, with numerous military personnel stationed there, numbers of which are expected to rise. This plays a significant role in the city's economy, , it provides roughly 25% of the GDP and provides 23% of the total jobs in San Diego.
Tourism
Tourism is a major industry owing to the city's climate,
beaches
A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from Rock (geology), rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle beach, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological s ...
, and tourist attractions such as
Balboa Park,
Belmont Park
Belmont Park is a thoroughbred racing, thoroughbred horse racetrack in Elmont, New York, just east of New York City limits best known for hosting the Belmont Stakes, the final leg of the American Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing (United Stat ...
,
San Diego Zoo
The San Diego Zoo is a zoo in San Diego, California, United States, located in Balboa Park (San Diego), Balboa Park. It began with a collection of animals left over from the 1915 Panama–California Exposition that were brought together by its ...
,
San Diego Zoo Safari Park
The San Diego Zoo Safari Park is a zoo and safari park in Escondido, California, Escondido, a suburb of the city of San Diego, California, located in San Pasqual Valley, San Diego, San Pasqual Valley. Opened in 1972, the park operates as a sis ...
, and
SeaWorld San Diego
SeaWorld San Diego is a theme park in Mission Bay Park in San Diego, California. It is a marine mammal park, oceanarium, public aquarium, and marine animal rehabilitation center. SeaWorld, the theme park's proprietor, is owned and operated by Un ...
. San Diego's Spanish and Mexican heritage is reflected in many historic sites across the city, such as
Mission San Diego de Alcalá
Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcalá (, lit. The Mission of Saint Didacus of Acalá) was the second Franciscan founded mission in the Californias (after San Fernando de Velicata), a province of New Spain. Located in present-day San Diego, C ...
and
Old Town San Diego State Historic Park. Also, the
local craft brewing industry attracts an increasing number of visitors for "beer tours" and the annual San Diego Beer Week in November; San Diego has been called "America's Craft Beer Capital".
San Diego County hosted more than 32 million visitors in 2012; collectively they spent an estimated $8 billion. The visitor industry provides employment for more than 160,000 people.
San Diego's cruise ship industry used to be the second-largest in California. Numerous cruise lines operate out of San Diego. However, cruise ship business has been in decline since 2008, when the Port hosted over 250 ship calls and more than 900,000 passengers. By 2016–2017, the number of ship calls had fallen to 90.
Local sightseeing cruises are offered in San Diego Bay and Mission Bay, as well as whale-watching cruises to observe the migration of
gray whale
The gray whale (''Eschrichtius robustus''), also known as the grey whale,Britannica Micro.: v. IV, p. 693. is a baleen whale that migrates between feeding and breeding grounds yearly. It reaches a length of , a weight of up to and lives between ...
s, peaking in mid-January.
Sport fishing is another popular tourist attraction; San Diego is home to southern California's biggest sport fishing fleet.
International trade
San Diego's commercial port and its location on the
United States–Mexico border
United may refer to:
Places
* United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community
* United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community
Arts and entertainment Films
* ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film
* ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...
make international trade an important factor in the city's economy. The city is authorized by the United States government to operate as a
foreign-trade zone.
The city shares a border with Mexico that includes two border crossings. San Diego hosts the busiest international border crossing in the world, in the San Ysidro neighborhood at the
San Ysidro Port of Entry
__NOTOC__
The San Ysidro Port of Entry (aka the San Ysidro Land Port of Entry or the San Ysidro LPOE) is the largest land border crossing between San Diego and Tijuana, and the fourth- busiest land border crossing in the world (second-busiest exc ...
. A second, primarily commercial border crossing operates in the
Otay Mesa area; it is the largest commercial crossing on the California–
Baja California
Baja California, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California, is a state in Mexico. It is the northwesternmost of the 32 federal entities of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1952, the area was known as the North Territory of B ...
border and handles the third-highest volume of trucks and dollar value of trade among all United States-Mexico land crossings.
The
Port of San Diego is the third-busiest port in California and one of the busiest on the
West Coast. One of the Port of San Diego's two
cargo
In transportation, cargo refers to goods transported by land, water or air, while freight refers to its conveyance. In economics, freight refers to goods transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. The term cargo is also used in cas ...
facilities is located in
downtown San Diego at the Tenth Avenue Marine Terminal. This terminal has facilities for
containers
A container is any receptacle or enclosure for holding a product used in storage, packaging, and transportation, including shipping.
Things kept inside of a container are protected on several sides by being inside of its structure. The term ...
,
bulk cargo
Bulk cargo is Product (business), product cargo that is transported packaging, unpackaged in large quantities.
Description
Bulk cargo refers to material in either liquid or granular, particulate (as a mass of relatively small solids) form, ...
, and
refrigerated and frozen storage, so that it can handle the import and export of many commodities. In 2009 the Port of San Diego handled 1,137,054 short tons of total trade; foreign trade accounted for 956,637 short tons while domestic trade amounted to 180,417 short tons.
Historically tuna fishing and canning was one of San Diego's major industries, although the American tuna fishing fleet is no longer based in San Diego. Seafood company
Bumble Bee Foods is headquartered in San Diego, as was
Chicken of the Sea until 2018.
Companies
San Diego hosts several major producers of wireless cellular technology.
Qualcomm
Qualcomm Incorporated () is an American multinational corporation headquartered in San Diego, California, and Delaware General Corporation Law, incorporated in Delaware. It creates semiconductors, software and services related to wireless techn ...
was founded and is headquartered in San Diego, and is one of the largest private-sector employers in San Diego.
Other wireless industry manufacturers headquartered here include
Nokia
Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications industry, telecommunications, technology company, information technology, and consumer electronics corporation, originally established as a pulp mill in 1 ...
,
LG Electronics
LG Electronics Inc. () is a South Korean Multinational corporation, multinational major appliance and consumer electronics corporation headquartered in Yeouido-dong, Seoul, South Korea. LG Electronics is a part of LG, LG Corporation, the fourth ...
,
Kyocera International
is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational ceramics and electronics manufacturer headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It was founded as in 1959 by Kazuo Inamori and renamed in 1982. It manufactures industrial ceramics, solar power genera ...
,
Cricket Communications and Novatel Wireless. San Diego also has the U.S. headquarters for the Slovakian security company
ESET. San Diego has been designated as an iHub Innovation Center for potential collaboration between wireless and the life sciences.
The
University of California, San Diego
The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego in communications material, formerly and colloquially UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Es ...
and other research institutions have helped to fuel the growth of
biotechnology
Biotechnology is a multidisciplinary field that involves the integration of natural sciences and Engineering Science, engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms and parts thereof for products and services. Specialists ...
.
In 2013, San Diego had the second-largest biotech cluster in the United States, below
Greater Boston
Greater Boston is the metropolitan region of New England encompassing the municipality of Boston, the capital of the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the most populous city in New England, and its surrounding areas, home to 4,941,632. The most s ...
and above the
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...
. There are more than 400 biotechnology companies in the area. In particular, the
La Jolla
La Jolla ( , ) is a hilly, seaside neighborhood in San Diego, California, occupying of curving coastline along the Pacific Ocean. The population reported in the 2010 census was 46,781. The climate is mild, with an average daily temperature o ...
and nearby
Sorrento Valley areas are home to offices and research facilities for numerous biotechnology companies.
Major biotechnology companies like
Illumina and
Neurocrine Biosciences are headquartered in San Diego, while many other biotech and pharmaceutical companies have offices or research facilities in San Diego. San Diego is also home to more than 140
contract research organization
In the life sciences, a contract research organization (CRO) is a company that provides support to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device industries in the form of research services outsourced on a contract basis. A CRO may provid ...
s (CROs) that provide contract services for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.
Real estate
San Diego has high real estate prices. San Diego home prices peaked in 2005, and then declined along with the national trend. As of December 2010, prices were down 36 percent from the peak,
median price of homes having declined by more than $200,000 between 2005 and 2010. As of May 2015, the median price of a house was $520,000. In November 2018 the median home price was $558,000. The San Diego metropolitan area had one of the worst housing affordability rankings of all metropolitan areas in the United States in 2009. The San Diego Housing Market experienced a decline in the median sold price of existing single-family homes between December 2022 and January 2023, with a 2.9% decrease from $850,000 to $824,950. As of 2023, the majority of homes (nearly 60%) in San Diego are listed above $1 million, with the city's median home price at $910,000, ranking it fourth highest among the 30 largest U.S. cities.
Consequently, San Diego has experienced negative net migration since 2004. A significant number of people have moved to adjacent
Riverside County, commuting daily to jobs in San Diego, while others are leaving the area altogether and moving to more affordable regions.
Government
Local government
The city is governed by a mayor and a seventh-member city council. In 2006, its government changed from a
council–manager government
The council–manager government is a form of local government commonly used for municipalities and counties in the United States and Ireland, in New Zealand regional councils, and in Canadian municipalities. In the council-manager government, ...
to a
strong mayor government, as decided by a citywide vote in 2004. The mayor is in effect the chief executive officer of the city, while the council is the legislative body. The City of San Diego is responsible for
police
The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...
, public safety, streets, water and sewer service, planning and zoning, and similar services within its borders. San Diego is a
sanctuary city
A sanctuary city is a municipality that limits or denies its cooperation with the national government in enforcing immigration law.
Proponents of sanctuary cities cite motives such as reducing the fear of persons which illegally immigrated fr ...
, however, San Diego County is a participant of the
Secure Communities program. , the city had one employee for every 137 residents, with a payroll greater than $733 million.
The members of the city council are each elected from single-member districts within the city. The mayor and city attorney are elected directly by the voters of the entire city. The mayor, city attorney, and council members are elected to four-year terms, with a two-term limit. Elections are held on a non-partisan basis per California state law; nevertheless, most officeholders do identify themselves as either Democrats or Republicans. In 2007, registered Democrats outnumbered Republicans by about 7 to 6 in the city,
and Democrats currently () hold an 8–1 majority in the city council. The current mayor,
Todd Gloria, is a member of the
Democratic Party.

San Diego is part of
San Diego County
San Diego County (), officially the County of San Diego, is a county in the southwest corner of the U.S. state of California, north to its border with Mexico. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,298,634; it is the second-most populous ...
, and includes all or part of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th supervisorial districts of the
San Diego County Board of Supervisors
The San Diego County Board of Supervisors is the Board of supervisors, legislative and executive branch of the Government of San Diego County, California, county government of San Diego County, California. Though officially Non-partisan democra ...
, Other county officers elected in part by city residents include the
Sheriff
A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland, the , which is common ...
,
District Attorney
In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, county prosecutor, state attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or solicitor is the chief prosecutor or chief law enforcement officer represen ...
, Assessor/Recorder/County Clerk, and Treasurer/Tax Collector.
Areas of the city immediately adjacent to
San Diego Bay
San Diego Bay is a natural harbor and deepwater port in San Diego County, California, near the Mexico–United States border. The bay, which is long and wide, is the third largest of the three large, protected natural bays on California's of ...
("
tidelands") are administered by the
Port of San Diego, a quasi-governmental agency which owns all the property in the tidelands and is responsible for its land use planning, policing, and similar functions. San Diego is a member of the regional planning agency
San Diego Association of Governments
The San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) is the metropolitan planning organization (MPO) for San Diego County, California. It is an association of local county governments, with policy makers consisting of mayors, councilmembers, and Coun ...
(SANDAG). Public schools within the city are managed and funded by independent school districts (see
below).
After narrowly supporting
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. He became president after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, under whom he had served a ...
in 1964, San Diego provided majorities to all six Republican presidential candidates from 1968 to 1988. However, in more recent decades, San Diego has trended in favor of
Democratic presidential candidates for president.
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...
in 1988 is the last Republican candidate to carry San Diego in a presidential election.
State and federal representation
In the
California State Senate
The California State Senate is the upper house of the California State Legislature (the lower house being the California State Assembly). The state senate convenes, along with the state assembly, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento.
...
, San Diego County encompasses the
38th,
39th and
40th districts, represented by , , and , respectively.
In the
California State Assembly
The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature (the upper house being the California State Senate). The Assembly convenes, along with the State Senate, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento, Califor ...
, lying partially within the city of San Diego are the
77th,
78th,
79th, and
80th districts, represented by , , , and , respectively.
In the
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...
, San Diego County includes parts or all of California's
48th,
49th,
50th,
51st, and
52nd congressional districts, represented by , , , , and respectively.
Scandals
San Diego was the site of the 1912
San Diego free speech fight, in which the city restricted speech, vigilantes brutalized and tortured anarchists, and the
San Diego Police Department killed a member of the
Industrial Workers of the World
The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), whose members are nicknamed "Wobblies", is an international labor union founded in Chicago, United States in 1905. The nickname's origin is uncertain. Its ideology combines general unionism with indu ...
(IWW).
In 1916,
rainmaker Charles Hatfield was blamed for $4 million in damages and accused of causing San Diego's worst
flood
A flood is an overflow of water (list of non-water floods, or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are of significant con ...
, during which about 20
Japanese American
are Americans of Japanese ancestry. Japanese Americans were among the three largest Asian Americans, Asian American ethnic communities during the 20th century; but, according to the 2000 United States census, 2000 census, they have declined in ...
farmers died.
Then-mayor
Roger Hedgecock was forced to resign his post in 1985, after he was found guilty of one count of
conspiracy
A conspiracy, also known as a plot, ploy, or scheme, is a secret plan or agreement between people (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder, treason, or corruption, especially with a political motivat ...
and 12 counts of
perjury
Perjury (also known as forswearing) is the intentional act of swearing a false oath or falsifying an affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to an official proceeding."Perjury The act or an insta ...
, related to the alleged failure to report all
campaign contributions.
After a series of appeals, the 12 perjury counts were dismissed in 1990 based on claims of
juror misconduct
Juror misconduct is when the law of the court is violated by a member of the jury while a court case is in progression or after it has reached a verdict."USLegal Definitions"
Misconduct can take several forms:
* Communication by the jury with tho ...
; the remaining conspiracy count was reduced to a
misdemeanor
A misdemeanor (American English, spelled misdemeanour elsewhere) is any "lesser" criminal act in some common law legal systems. Misdemeanors are generally punished less severely than more serious felonies, but theoretically more so than admi ...
and then dismissed.
A 2002 scheme to underfund pensions for city employees led to the
San Diego pension scandal. This resulted in the resignation of newly re-elected Mayor
Dick Murphy and the criminal indictment of six pension board members. Those charges were finally dismissed by a federal judge in 2010.
On November 28, 2005, U.S. Congressman
Randy "Duke" Cunningham resigned after being convicted on federal
bribery
Bribery is the corrupt solicitation, payment, or Offer and acceptance, acceptance of a private favor (a bribe) in exchange for official action. The purpose of a bribe is to influence the actions of the recipient, a person in charge of an official ...
charges. He had represented
California's 50th congressional district
California's 50th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of California, and encompasses parts of the Mid-Coast and northeastern parts of San Diego County. Scott Peters (politician), Scott Peters is currently the U ...
, which includes much of the northern portion of the city of San Diego. In 2006, Cunningham was sentenced to a 100-month prison sentence.
In 2005 two city council members,
Ralph Inzunza and Deputy Mayor
Michael Zucchet, were convicted of
extortion
Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit (e.g., money or goods) through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, although making unfounded ...
,
wire fraud
Mail fraud and wire fraud are terms used in the United States to describe the use of a physical (e.g., the U.S. Postal Service) or electronic (e.g., a phone, a telegram, a fax, or the Internet) mail system to defraud another, and are U.S. fede ...
, and
conspiracy to commit wire fraud for taking campaign contributions from a
strip club
A strip club (also known as a strip joint, striptease bar, peeler bar, gentlemen's club, among others) is a venue where strippers provide adult entertainment, predominantly in the form of striptease and other erotic dances including lap dances. St ...
owner and his associates, allegedly in exchange for trying to repeal the city's "no touch" laws at strip clubs. Both subsequently resigned. Inzunza was sentenced to 21 months in prison. In 2009, a judge acquitted Zucchet on seven out of the nine counts against him, and granted his petition for a new trial on the other two charges; the remaining charges were eventually dropped.
In July 2013, three former supporters of Mayor
Bob Filner asked him to resign because of allegations of repeated
sexual harassment
Sexual harassment is a type of harassment based on the sex or gender of a victim. It can involve offensive sexist or sexual behavior, verbal or physical actions, up to bribery, coercion, and assault. Harassment may be explicit or implicit, wit ...
. Over the ensuing six weeks, 18 women came forward to publicly claim that Filner had sexually harassed them, and multiple individuals and groups called for him to resign. Filner agreed to resign effective August 30, 2013, subsequently pleading guilty to one felony count of
false imprisonment
False imprisonment or unlawful imprisonment occurs when a person intentionally restricts another person's movement within any area without legal authority, justification, or the restrained person's permission.
Actual physical restraint is n ...
and two misdemeanor
battery charges.
Crime
Like most major cities, San Diego had a declining crime rate from 1990 to 2000. 1991 would mark the city's deadliest year, registering 179 homicides within city limits (while the
region
In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...
as a whole peaked at 278 homicides), capping off an unabated, eight-year climb in murders, rapes, robberies, and assault dating back to 1983. At the time, the city was ranked last among the 10 most populous U.S. cities in homicides per 1,000 population, and ninth in crimes per 1,000. From 1980 to 1994, San Diego surpassed 100 murders ten times before tapering off to 91 homicides in 1995. That number would not exceed 79 for the next 15 years. Crime in San Diego increased in the early 2000s.
In 2004, San Diego had the sixth lowest crime rate of any U.S. city with over half a million residents.
From 2002 to 2006, the crime rate overall dropped 0.8%, though not evenly by category. While
violent crime
A violent crime, violent felony, crime of violence or crime of a violent nature is a crime in which an offender or perpetrator uses or threatens to use harmful Force (law), force upon a victim. This entails both crimes in which the violence, vio ...
decreased 12.4% during this period,
property crime
Property crime is a category of crime, usually involving private property, that includes, among other crimes, burglary, larceny, theft, motor vehicle theft, arson, shoplifting, and vandalism. Property crime is a crime to obtain money, property, ...
increased 1.1%. Total property crimes per 100,000 people were lower than the national average in 2008.
According to
Uniform Crime Report statistics compiled by the
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...
(FBI) in 2010, there were 5,616 violent crimes and 30,753 property crimes. Of these, the violent crimes consisted of forcible rapes, 73 robberies and 170 aggravated assaults, while 6,387 burglaries, 17,977 larceny-thefts, 6,389 motor vehicle thefts and 155 acts of arson defined the property offenses. In 2013, San Diego had the lowest murder rate of the ten largest cities in the United States.
Education
Primary and secondary schools
Public schools in San Diego are operated by independent
school district
A school district is a special-purpose district that operates local public Primary school, primary or Secondary school, secondary schools or both in various countries. It is not to be confused with an attendance zone, which is within a school dis ...
s. The majority of the public schools in the city are served by
San Diego Unified School District
San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) is a public school district based in San Diego
San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 ...
, the second-largest school district in California, which includes 11 K–8 schools, 107 elementary schools, 24 middle schools, 13 atypical and alternative schools, 28 high schools, and 45
charter school
A charter school is a school that receives government funding but operates independently of the established state school system in which it is located. It is independent in the sense that it operates according to the basic principle of autono ...
s.
Several adjacent school districts which are headquartered outside the city limits serve some schools within the city; these include
Poway Unified School District,
Del Mar Union School District,
San Dieguito Union High School District, and
Sweetwater Union High School District. In addition, there are a number of private schools in the city.
Colleges and universities
According to education rankings released by the
U.S. Census Bureau in 2017, 44.4% of San Diegans (city, not county) ages 25 and older hold
bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...
s, compared to 30.9% in the United States as a whole. Wallethub ranks San Diego as the 23rd-most educated city in the United States, based on these figures.
The largest university in the area is the
University of California, San Diego
The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego in communications material, formerly and colloquially UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Es ...
(UC San Diego). The university is the southernmost campus of the
University of California
The University of California (UC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university, research university system in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Oakland, California, Oakland, the system is co ...
system and is the second largest employer in the city. It has the seventh largest research expenditure in the country.
Other public colleges and universities in the city include
San Diego State University
San Diego State University (SDSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Diego, California, United States. Founded in 1897, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CS ...
(SDSU) and the
San Diego Community College District, which includes
San Diego City College,
San Diego Mesa College, and
San Diego Miramar College.
Private non-profit colleges and universities in the city include the
University of San Diego
The University of San Diego (USD) is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in San Diego, California, United States. Chartered in 1949 as the independent San Diego College for Women and San Diego University ...
(USD),
Point Loma Nazarene University (PLNU),
National University
A national university is mainly a university created or managed by a government, but which may also at the same time operate autonomously without direct control by the state. In the United States, the term "national university" connotes the highe ...
's San Diego campus,
University of Redlands' School of Business San Diego campus, and
Brandman University's San Diego campus. For-profit institutions include
Alliant International University
Alliant International University is a Private university, private For-profit higher education in the United States, for-profit university with its main campus in San Diego, five additional campuses in California (San Francisco, Los Angeles, Irv ...
(AIU),
Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising's San Diego campus,
NewSchool of Architecture and Design,
Southern States University (SSU),
UEI College, and
Woodbury University
Woodbury University is a private university in Burbank, California. Founded in 1884 with initial campuses in Downtown Los Angeles, Downtown and Central Los Angeles, Woodbury University is one of the oldest institutions of higher education in Sout ...
School of Architecture's satellite campus.
There is one medical school in the city, the
UC San Diego School of Medicine
The University of California, San Diego School of Medicine is the graduate medical school of the University of California, San Diego, a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in La Jolla, California. It wa ...
. There are three
ABA accredited law schools in the city, which include
California Western School of Law,
Thomas Jefferson School of Law, and
University of San Diego School of Law. There is also one law school,
Western Sierra Law School, not accredited by the ABA.
Libraries

The city-run
San Diego Public Library system is headquartered downtown and has 36 branches throughout the city. The newest location is in Skyline Hills, which broke ground in 2015. The libraries have had reduced operating hours since 2003 due to the city's financial problems. In 2006 the city increased spending on libraries by $2.1 million.
A new nine-story Central Library on Park Boulevard at J Street opened on September 30, 2013.
In addition to the municipal public library system, there are nearly two dozen libraries open to the public run by other governmental agencies, and by schools, colleges, and universities. Noteworthy are
Malcolm A. Love Library at
San Diego State University
San Diego State University (SDSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Diego, California, United States. Founded in 1897, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CS ...
, and
Geisel Library
Geisel Library is the main library building of the University of California, San Diego. It is named in honor of Audrey Geisel, Audrey and Theodor Seuss Geisel, the latter of whom is better known as children's author Dr. Seuss. The building's di ...
at the
University of California, San Diego
The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego in communications material, formerly and colloquially UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Es ...
.
Culture
The culture of San Diego is influenced heavily by the mixing of
American and
Mexican culture
Mexico's culture emerged from the culture of the Spanish culture, Spanish Empire and the preexisting Pre-Columbian Mexico, indigenous cultures of Mexico. Mexican culture is described as the 'child' of both Western civilization, western and Indi ...
s, due to the city's position on the
Mexico–United States border
The international border separating Mexico and the United States extends from the Pacific Ocean in the west to the Gulf of Mexico in the east. The border traverses a variety of terrains, ranging from urban areas to deserts. It is the List of ...
, its large
Chicano population, and its history as part of
Hispanic America
Hispanic America ( or ), historically known as Spanish America () or Castile (historical region), Castilian America (), is the Spanish-speaking countries and territories of the Americas. In all of these countries, Spanish language, Spanish is th ...
and Mexico. San Diego's longtime association with the
U.S. military also contributes to its culture.
Many popular museums, such as
the San Diego Museum of Art, the
San Diego Natural History Museum, the
Museum of Us, the
Museum of Photographic Arts, and the
San Diego Air & Space Museum
The San Diego Air & Space Museum (SDASM) is an aviation and space exploration museum in San Diego, California. It is located in Balboa Park (San Diego), Balboa Park and is housed in the former Ford Building (San Diego), Ford Building, which is li ...
, are located in Balboa Park, which is also the location of the
San Diego Zoo
The San Diego Zoo is a zoo in San Diego, California, United States, located in Balboa Park (San Diego), Balboa Park. It began with a collection of animals left over from the 1915 Panama–California Exposition that were brought together by its ...
. The
Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego (MCASD) is located in La Jolla and has a branch located at
Santa Fe Depot downtown.

The
Columbia district
The Columbia District was a fur-trading district in the Pacific Northwest region of North America, in both the United States and British North America in the 19th century. Much of its territory overlapped with the temporarily jointly occupi ...
downtown is home to historic ship exhibits belonging to the
Maritime Museum of San Diego
The Maritime Museum of San Diego is a maritime museum in San Diego, California. Established in 1948, it preserves one of the largest collections of historic sea vessels in the United States. Located on San Diego Bay, the centerpiece of the museum' ...
, headlined by
''Star of India'', as well as the unrelated
USS ''Midway'' Museum featuring the aircraft carrier.
The
San Diego Symphony at
Symphony Towers performs on a regular basis; from 2004 to 2017, its director was
Jahja Ling. The
San Diego Opera at Civic Center Plaza, directed by David Bennett.
Old Globe Theatre at Balboa Park produces about 15 plays and musicals annually.
La Jolla Playhouse at UC San Diego is directed by
Christopher Ashley. Both the Old Globe Theatre and La Jolla Playhouse have produced the world premieres of plays and musicals that have gone on to win
Tony Awards
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual cere ...
or nominations on
Broadway. The
Joan B. Kroc Theatre at Kroc Center's Performing Arts Center is a 600-seat state-of-the-art theater that hosts music, dance, and theater performances. Hundreds of movies and a dozen TV shows have been
filmed in San Diego, a tradition going back as far as 1898.
Sports

Sports in San Diego includes
major professional league teams, other
highest-level professional league teams,
minor league
Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nort ...
teams, and
college athletics
College sports or college athletics encompasses amateur sports played by non- professional, collegiate and university-level student athletes in competitive sports and games. College sports have led to many college rivalries.
College sports ...
. San Diego hosts three teams of major professional leagues, the
San Diego Padres
The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...
of
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
(MLB),
San Diego FC of
Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...
(MLS), and
San Diego Wave FC
San Diego Wave Fútbol Club is an American professional soccer team based in San Diego, California, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). The team plays its home games at Snapdragon Stadium. Founded on June 8, 2021, the Wav ...
of
National Women's Soccer League
The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a women's professional Association football, soccer league and the highest level of the United States soccer league system#Women's leagues, United States soccer league system (alongside the USL Supe ...
(NWSL).
The city is home to several universities whose teams compete in various
NCAA Division I
NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...
sports, most notably the
San Diego State Aztecs
The San Diego State Aztecs are the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent San Diego State University (SDSU). The university fields 17 varsity teams (6 men's, 11 women's) in National Collegiate Athle ...
. The
Farmers Insurance Open, a professional golf tournament on the
PGA Tour
The PGA Tour (stylized as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also known as the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour Champion ...
, is played annually at
Torrey Pines Golf Course.
San Diego hosted the
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...
(NFL)'s
San Diego Chargers
The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team in the National Football League (NFL). The Chargers played in San Diego, California from 1961 until 2016, before relocating back to the Greater Los Angeles area, where the franch ...
from 1961 to 2017, when the team relocated to the
Greater Los Angeles
Greater Los Angeles is the most populous metropolitan area in the U.S. state of California, encompassing five counties in Southern California extending from Ventura County in the west to San Bernardino County and Riverside County in the eas ...
area (now the
Los Angeles Chargers
The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC W ...
). The city also hosted the
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...
(NBA)'s
San Diego Rockets from 1967 to 1971 (now the
Houston Rockets
The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA) ...
) and
San Diego Clippers from 1978 to 1984 (now the
Los Angeles Clippers
The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. The ...
). San Diego has never hosted a
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...
(NHL) franchise, though it hosted the
San Diego Mariners of the now-defunct
World Hockey Association
The World Hockey Association () was a professional ice hockey major league that operated in North America from 1972–73 WHA season, 1972 to 1978–79 WHA season, 1979. It was the first major league to compete with the National Hockey League (N ...
(WHA) from 1974 to 1977.
Currently, there is no NBA, NFL, or NHL team in the city. San Diego is the largest American city not to have won a championship in a "Big Four" major professional league. The city does have one major league title to its name: the
1963 American Football League (AFL) Championship won by the San Diego Chargers, when the AFL was an independent entity prior to the
AFL–NFL merger
The AFL–NFL merger was the merger of the two major professional American football leagues in the United States at the time: the National Football League (NFL) and the American Football League (AFL). It paved the way for the combined league, wh ...
in 1970. Some San Diego sports fans believe there is
a curse on professional sports in the city.
The
San Diego Clippers of the
NBA G League
The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is a professional basketball league in North America that serves as the Minor league#Basketball, developmental league of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The league comprises 31 teams; as of ...
have played at
Frontwave Arena since 2024. The
San Diego Seals of the
National Lacrosse League
The National Lacrosse League (NLL) is a professional box lacrosse league in North America. The league comprises 14 teams8 in the United States and 6 in Canada. The NLL is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
...
play at
Pechanga Arena.
Media
Published within the city are the daily newspaper, ''
The San Diego Union-Tribune
''The San Diego Union-Tribune'' is a metropolitan daily newspaper published in San Diego, California, that has run since 1868. Its name derives from a 1992 merger between the two major daily newspapers at the time, ''The San Diego Union'' and ...
'' and its online portal of the same name, and the alternative newsweeklies, ''
San Diego CityBeat'' and the ''
San Diego Reader
The ''San Diego Reader'' is an alternative press newspaper in San Diego County, California. Published weekly since October 1972, the ''Reader'' is distributed free on Wednesday and Thursday via street boxes and cooperating retail outlets.
Hi ...
''. The ''
Times of San Diego'' is a free online newspaper covering news in the metropolitan area. ''
Voice of San Diego'' is a non-profit online news outlet covering government, politics, education, neighborhoods, and the arts. The ''San Diego Daily Transcript'' is a business-oriented online newspaper. San Diego is also the headquarters of the national
far-right
Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on the far end of the ...
cable TV channel
One America News Network (OANN).
San Diego led U.S. local markets with 69.6 percent broadband penetration in 2004 according to
Nielsen//NetRatings.
San Diego's first television station was
KFMB, which began broadcasting on May 16, 1949.
Since the
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...
(FCC) licensed seven television stations in Los Angeles, two
VHF channels were available for San Diego because of its relative proximity to the larger city. In 1952, however, the FCC began licensing
UHF channels, making it possible for cities such as San Diego to acquire more stations. Stations based in Mexico (with
ITU prefixes of XE and XH) also serve the San Diego market. Television stations today include
XHJK-TDT 1 (
Azteca Uno),
XETV-TDT 6 (
Canal 5/
Nueve),
KFMB 8 (
CBS, with
The CW
The CW Network, LLC (commonly referred to as The CW or simply CW) is an American commercial broadcast television network which is controlled by Nexstar Media Group through a 75% ownership interest. The network's name is derived from the firs ...
/MyNetworkTV, MNTV on DT2), KGTV 10 (American Broadcasting Company, ABC), XHCPDE-TDT, XHCPDE 11 (Canal Once (Mexico), Once), XEWT-TDT, XEWT 12 (Televisa Regional), KPBS (TV), KPBS 15 (PBS), KBNT-CD 17 (Univision), XHTIT-TDT 21 (Azteca 7), XHAS-TDT 33 (XHILA-TDT, Canal 66), KDTF-LD 36 (Unimás), KNSD 39 (NBC), KSKT-CD 43 (Estrella TV), XHBJ-TDT 45 (Canal 45 PSN), KUAN-LD 48 (Telemundo), XHDTV-TDT 49 (Canal 6 (Mexico), Canal 6), KUSI 51 (Independent station, Independent), XHUAA-TDT 57 (El Canal de las Estrellas), and KSWB-TV 69 (Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox). San Diego has an 80.6 percent cable penetration rate.
[San Diego market in ]

Due to the ratio of U.S. and Mexican-licensed stations, San Diego is the largest media market in the United States that is legally unable to support a Duopoly (broadcasting), television station duopoly between two full-power stations under Federal Communications Commission, FCC regulations, which disallow duopolies in metropolitan areas with fewer than nine full-power television stations and require that there would be eight unique station owners that remain once a duopoly is formed (there are only seven full-power stations on the California side of the San Diego-Tijuana market). As a whole, the Mexico side of the San Diego-Tijuana market has two duopolies and one triopoly (Entravision Communications owns XHDTV-TV, Azteca (multimedia company), Azteca owns XHJK-TV and XHTIT-TV, and Televisa, Grupo Televisa owns XETV-TDT, XETV-TV, XHUAA-TV and XEWT-TDT, XEWT-TV.
San Diego's television market is limited to only
San Diego County
San Diego County (), officially the County of San Diego, is a county in the southwest corner of the U.S. state of California, north to its border with Mexico. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,298,634; it is the second-most populous ...
. As a result, San Diego is the largest single-county media market in the United States.
The radio stations in San Diego include nationwide broadcaster iHeartMedia, Audacy, Inc., Local Media San Diego, and many other smaller stations and networks. Stations include: KOGO (AM), KOGO AM 600, KGB (AM), KGB AM 760, KCEO, KCEO AM 1000, KCBQ, KCBQ AM 1170, KPRZ, K-Praise, KLSD, KLSD AM 1360, KFSD, KFSD 1450 AM, KPBS-FM 89.5, KHTS-FM, Channel 933, KMYI, Star 94.1, KBZT, FM 94/9, KSSX, FM News and Talk 95.7, KYDO, Q96 96.1, KYXY, KyXy 96.5, Free Radio San Diego (AKA Pirate Radio San Diego) 96.9FM FRSD, KWFN 97.3, KXSN 98.1, KFBG (FM), Big-FM 100.7, 101.5 KGB-FM, KLVJ (FM), KLVJ 102.1, KSON (FM), KSON 103.7, KIOZ, Rock 105.3, and another ''Pirate Radio'' station at 106.9FM, as well as a number of local Spanish-language radio stations.
Infrastructure
Transportation
With the automobile being the primary means of transportation for over 80 percent of residents, San Diego is served by a network of freeways and highways. This includes Interstate 5 in California, Interstate 5, which runs south to
Tijuana
Tijuana is the most populous city of the Mexican state of Baja California, located on the northwestern Pacific Coast of Mexico. Tijuana is the municipal seat of the Tijuana Municipality, the hub of the Tijuana metropolitan area and the most popu ...
and north to Los Angeles;
Interstate 8, which runs east to Imperial County, California, Imperial County and the Arizona Sun Corridor; Interstate 15, which runs northeast through the Inland Empire to Las Vegas and Salt Lake City; and Interstate 805, which splits from I-5 near the Mexican border and rejoins I-5 at Sorrento Valley, San Diego, Sorrento Valley.
Major state highways include California State Route 94, SR 94, which connects downtown with I-805, I-15 and East County, San Diego, East County; California State Route 163, SR 163, which connects downtown with the northeast part of the city, intersects I-805 and merges with I-15 at Miramar, San Diego, Miramar; California State Route 52, SR 52, which connects La Jolla with East County, San Diego, East County through Santee, California, Santee and California State Route 125, SR 125; California State Route 56, SR 56, which connects I-5 with I-15 through
Carmel Valley and Rancho Peñasquitos, San Diego, Rancho Peñasquitos; California State Route 75, SR 75, which spans
San Diego Bay
San Diego Bay is a natural harbor and deepwater port in San Diego County, California, near the Mexico–United States border. The bay, which is long and wide, is the third largest of the three large, protected natural bays on California's of ...
as the San Diego–Coronado Bridge, and also passes through
South San Diego as Palm Avenue; and California State Route 905, SR 905, which connects I-5 and I-805 to the Otay Mesa Port of Entry.
The stretch of SR 163 that passes through Balboa Park is San Diego's oldest freeway, dating back to 1948 when it was part of U.S. Route 80 in California, US 80 and U.S. Route 395 in California, US 395. It has been called one of America's most beautiful parkways.
San Diego's roadway system provides an extensive network of cycle routes. Its dry and mild climate makes cycling a convenient year-round option; however, the city's hilly terrain and long average trip distances make cycling less practicable. Older and denser neighborhoods around the downtown tend to be oriented to utility cycling. This is partly because the grid street patterns are now absent in newer developments farther from the urban core, where suburban-style arterial roads are much more common. As a result, the majority of cycling is recreational.

San Diego is served by the San Diego Trolley light rail system,
by the San Diego MTS bus system, MTS bus system, the bus rapid transit system Rapid (San Diego), Rapid, private Share taxi#United States, jitneys in some neighborhoods, and by Coaster (rail service), Coaster
and ''Pacific Surfliner''
commuter rail; northern San Diego County, California, San Diego County is also served by the Sprinter (rail service), Sprinter hybrid rail service. The trolley primarily serves downtown and surrounding urban communities, Mission Valley, San Diego, California, Mission Valley, east county, and coastal south bay. A mid-coast extension of the trolley operates from
Old Town
In a city or town, the old town is its historic or original core. Although the city is usually larger in its present form, many cities have redesignated this part of the city to commemorate its origins. In some cases, newer developments on t ...
to University City, San Diego, California, University City and the
University of California, San Diego
The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego in communications material, formerly and colloquially UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Es ...
along Interstate 5 since November 2021. The Amtrak and Coaster trains currently run along the coastline and connect San Diego with Los Angeles, Orange County, Riverside, San Bernardino, and Ventura via Metrolink (California), Metrolink and the Pacific Surfliner. There are two Amtrak stations in San Diego, in Old Town Transit Center, Old Town and
Santa Fe Depot downtown. San Diego transit information about public transportation and commuting is available on the Web and by dialing "5-1-1, 511" from any phone in the area.
The city has two major commercial airports within or near its city limits.
San Diego International Airport (SAN) is the busiest single-runway airport in the United States.
It served over 24 million passengers in 2018 and is dealing with larger numbers every year. Tijuana International Airport has a terminal within the city limits in the
Otay Mesa district connected to the rest of the airport in Tijuana, Mexico, via the Cross Border Xpress cross-border footbridge. In addition, the city has two general-aviation airports, Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport (MYF) and Brown Field Municipal Airport (SDM).

Recent regional transportation projects have sought to mitigate congestion, including improvements to local freeways, expansion of San Diego Airport, and doubling the capacity of the cruise ship terminal. Freeway projects included expansion of Interstates 5 and 805 around "The Merge" where these two freeways meet, as well as expansion of Interstate 15 through North County, which includes new High-occupancy vehicle lane, HOV "managed lanes". A tollway (the southern portion of SR 125, known as the South Bay Expressway) connects SR 54 and Otay Mesa, near the Mexican border. According to an assessment in 2007, 37 percent of city streets were in acceptable condition. However, the proposed budget fell $84.6 million short of bringing streets up to an acceptable level.
Expansion at the port has included a second cruise terminal on Broadway Pier, San Diego, Broadway Pier, opened in 2010. Airport projects include the expansion of Terminal Two.
Utilities
Water is supplied to residents by the Water Department of the City of San Diego. The city receives most of its water from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which brings water to the region from the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers, via the state project and the Colorado River, via the Colorado Aqueduct.
Gas and electric utilities are provided by San Diego Gas & Electric, a division of Sempra Energy. The company provides energy service to 3.7 million people through 1.5 million electric meters and 900,000 natural gas meters in San Diego and southern Orange counties.
Street lights
In the mid-20th century the city had mercury vapor street lamps. In 1978, the city decided to replace them with more efficient sodium vapor lamps. This triggered an outcry from astronomers at Palomar Observatory north of the city, concerned that the new lamps would increase light pollution and hinder astronomical observation. The city altered its lighting regulations to limit light pollution within of Palomar.
In 2011, the city announced plans to upgrade 80% of its street lighting to new energy-efficient lights that use Electrodeless lamp, induction technology, a modified form of fluorescent lamp producing a broader spectrum than sodium vapor lamps. The new system is predicted to save $2.2 million per year in energy and maintenance.
In 2014, San Diego announced plans to become the first U.S. city to install cyber-controlled street lighting.
Notable people
Sister cities
San Diego's sister cities are:
* Alcalá de Henares, Spain (est. 1982)
* Campinas, Brazil (est. 1995)
* Cavite City, Philippines (est. 1969)
* Edinburgh, Scotland (est. 1977)
* Jalalabad, Afghanistan (est. 2004)
* Jeonju, South Korea (est. 1983)
* León, Guanajuato, León, Mexico (est. 1969)
* Panama City, Panama (est. 2015)
* City of Perth, Perth, Australia (est. 1986)
* Taichung, Taiwan (est. 1983)
* Tema, Ghana (est. 1976)
*
Tijuana
Tijuana is the most populous city of the Mexican state of Baja California, located on the northwestern Pacific Coast of Mexico. Tijuana is the municipal seat of the Tijuana Municipality, the hub of the Tijuana metropolitan area and the most popu ...
, Mexico (est. 1993)
* Vladivostok, Russia (est. 1991)
* Warsaw, Poland (est. 1996)
* Yantai, China (est. 1985)
* Yokohama, Japan (est. 1957)
See also
* USS San Diego, USS ''San Diego'', 4 ships
Notes
References
General sources
*
*
External links
*
Civic San Diego (replaced redevelopment corporations)
SANDAG, San Diego's Regional Planning AgencyDemographic Fact Sheetfrom United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau
San Diego Historical SocietySan Diego Unified School DistrictSan Diego Public LibrarySan Diego Tourism Authority (formerly the San Diego Convention and Visitors Bureau)
{{Portal bar, North America, United States, California, Cities
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Port cities in California
San Antonio–San Diego Mail Line
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