San Luis Obispo County (), officially the County of San Luis Obispo, is a

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

on the Central Coast of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 282,424. The

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo (; Spanish for " St. Louis the Bishop", ; Chumash: ''tiłhini'') is a city and county seat of San Luis Obispo County, in the U.S. state of California. Located on the Central Coast of California, San Luis Obispo is roughly hal ...

Junípero Serra Junípero Serra y Ferrer (; ; ca, Juníper Serra i Ferrer; November 24, 1713August 28, 1784) was a Spanish Roman Catholic priest and missionary of the Franciscan Order. He is credited with establishing the Franciscan Missions in the Sierr ...

founded the

Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa ( es, Misión San Luis Obispo de Tolosa) is a Spanish mission founded September 1, 1772 by Father Junípero Serra in San Luis Obispo, California. Named after Saint Louis of Anjou, the bishop of Toulouse, the ...

in 1772, and San Luis Obispo grew around it. The small size of the county's communities, scattered along the beaches, coastal hills, and mountains of the Santa Lucia range, provides a wide variety of coastal and inland hill ecologies to support fishing, agriculture, and tourist activities. California Polytechnic State University has almost 20,000 students. Tourism, especially for the wineries, is popular. Grapes and other agriculture products are an important part of the economy. San Luis Obispo County is the third largest producer of wine in California, surpassed only by Sonoma and Napa counties. Strawberries are the largest agricultural crop in the county. The town of

San Simeon San Simeon (Spanish: ''San Simeón'', meaning "St. Simon") is a village and Census-designated place on the Pacific coast of San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. Its position along State Route 1 is about halfway between Los Angeles ...

is located at the foot of the ridge where newspaper publisher

William Randolph Hearst William Randolph Hearst Sr. (; April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American businessman, newspaper publisher, and politician known for developing the nation's largest newspaper chain and media company, Hearst Communications. His flamboya ...

built

Hearst Castle Hearst Castle, known formally as La Cuesta Encantada ( Spanish for "The Enchanted Hill"), is a historic estate in San Simeon, located on the Central Coast of California. Conceived by William Randolph Hearst, the publishing tycoon, and his arch ...

. Other coastal towns (listed from north to south) include

Cambria Cambria is a name for Wales, being the Latinised form of the Welsh name for the country, . The term was not in use during the Roman period (when Wales had not come into existence as a distinct entity). It emerged later, in the medieval period, ...

Cayucos Cayucos (Spanish for "Canoe") is an unincorporated coastal town in San Luis Obispo County, California, along California State Route 1 between Cambria to the north and Morro Bay to the south. The population was 2,505 at the 2020 census, down f ...

Morro Bay Morro Bay (''Morro'', Spanish for "Hill") is a seaside city in San Luis Obispo County, California. Located on the Central Coast of California, the city population was 10,757 as of the 2020 census, up from 10,234 at the 2010 census. The town ...

, and Los Osos -Baywood Park. These cities and villages are located northwest of the city of San Luis Obispo. To the south are

Avila Beach Avila Beach (Spanish: ''Ávila'') is an unincorporated community in San Luis Obispo County, California, United States, located on San Luis Obispo Bay about 160 miles (257 km) northwest of Los Angeles, and about south of San Francisco. The ...

and the Five Cities region. The Five Cities originally were:

Arroyo Grande Arroyo often refers to: * Arroyo (creek), an intermittently dry creek Arroyo may also refer to: People * Arroyo (surname) Places United States ;California * Arroyo Burro Beach, a public beach park in Santa Barbara County, California * Arroyo ...

, Grover Beach (then known as Grover City), Oceano, Fair Oaks and Halcyon. Today, the Five Cities region consists of Pismo Beach, Grover Beach, Arroyo Grande, Oceano, and Halcyon (basically the area from Pismo Beach to Oceano). Just south of the Five Cities, San Luis Obispo County borders northern Santa Barbara County. Inland, the cities of Paso Robles, Templeton, and

Atascadero Atascadero (Spanish language, Spanish for "Mire") is a city in San Luis Obispo County, California, San Luis Obispo County, California, about equidistant from Los Angeles and San Francisco on U.S. Route 101 in California, U.S. Route 101. Atascade ...

lie along the Salinas River, near the Paso Robles wine region.

lies south of Atascadero and north of the Five Cities region.

History

The prehistory of San Luis Obispo County is strongly influenced by the

Chumash people The Chumash are a Native American people of the central and southern coastal regions of California, in portions of what is now San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Ventura and Los Angeles counties, extending from Morro Bay in the north to Mali ...

. There has been significant settlement here at least as early as the

Millingstone Horizon Millingstone Horizon is an archaeological period of Native American dominance denoting a period in California, United States involving extensive use of manos and other grinding technology. The interval is a subset of the Archaic Period; specif ...

thousands of years ago. Important settlements existed in coastal areas such as

and Los Osos.

was founded on September 1, 1772 in the area that is now the city of

. The namesake of the mission, city and county is

Saint Louis of Toulouse Saint Louis of Toulouse (9 February 1274 – 19 August 1297), also known as Louis of Anjou, was a Neapolitan prince of the Capetian House of Anjou and a Catholic bishop. Life Louis was born in Brignoles, Provence (or in Italy, at Nocera, whe ...

, the young

bishop of Toulouse The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Toulouse (–Saint Bertrand de Comminges–Rieux) ( la, Archidioecesis Tolosana (–Convenarum–Rivensis); French: ''Archidiocèse de Toulouse (–Saint-Bertrand de Comminges–Rieux-Volvestre)''; Occitan: ''A ...

(''Obispo'' and ''Tolosa'' in Spanish) in 1297. San Luis Obispo County was one of the original counties of California, created in 1850 at the time of statehood. The Salinas River Valley, a region that figures strongly in several John Steinbeck novels, stretches north from San Luis Obispo County.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (comprising 8.8%) is water.

Climate

San Luis Obispo County has three main climate types. BSk climate can mainly be found in the eastern portions of the county, along with certain smaller areas in the north. Csa climate can mainly be found in the central portions of the counties, in communities such as Paso Robles. The rest of the county is made up of the Csb climate type.

Adjacent counties

National protected areas

* Carrizo Plain National Monument (part) * Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes National Wildlife Refuge (part) *

Los Padres National Forest Los Padres National Forest is a United States national forest in southern and central California. Administered by the United States Forest Service, Los Padres includes most of the mountainous land along the California coast from Ventura to Mo ...

(part)

Marine Protected Areas

* Piedras Blancas State Marine Reserve and Marine Conservation Area *

Cambria State Marine Conservation Area Cambria State Marine Conservation Area (SMCA) is a marine protected area located off the coast of the city of Cambria, California on California’s central coast in San Luis Obispo County, California. The marine protected area covers . Within the ...

* White Rock (Cambria) State Marine Conservation Area *

Morro Bay State Marine Recreational Management Area and Morro Bay State Marine Reserve Morro Bay State Marine Recreational Management Area (SMRMA) and Morro Bay State Marine Reserve (SMR) are two marine protected areas that provide protection for Morro Bay Estuary on California's central coast. The two marine protected areas toget ...

Point Buchon State Marine Reserve and Marine Conservation Area Point Buchon State Marine Reserve (SMR) and Point Buchon State Marine Conservation Area (SMCA) are two adjoining marine protected areas that lie offshore Point Buchon in San Luis Obispo County on California’s central coast. The combined are ...

Demographics

2020 census

''Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race.''

2011

Places by population, race, and income

2010

The

2010 United States Census The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators servi ...

reported that San Luis Obispo County had a population of 269,637. The racial makeup of San Luis Obispo County was 222,756 (82.6%)

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

, 5,550 (2.1%)

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 2,536 (0.9%) Native American, 8,507 (3.2%) Asian (1.0% Filipino, 0.6% Chinese, 0.4% Japanese, 0.3% Indian, 0.3% Korean, 0.2% Vietnamese), 389 (0.1%)

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...

, 19,786 (7.3%) from

other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...

, and 10,113 (3.8%) from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties forme ...

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

of any race were 55,973 persons (20.8%); 17.7% of San Luis Obispo County is Mexican, 0.3% Puerto Rican, and 0.2% Salvadoran.

2000 Census

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...

of 2000, there were 246,681 residents, 92,739 households, and 58,611 families in the county. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical ...

was 75 people per square mile (29/km²). There were 102,275 housing units at an average density of 31 per square mile (12/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 84.6%

, 2.0%

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ...

, 1.0% Native American, 2.7% Asian, 0.1%

, 6.2% from

, and 3.4% from two or more races. 16.3% of the population were

of any race. 13.9% were of

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

, 11.4%

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

, 9.7%

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

, 6.1% American and 5.7%

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

ancestry according to

Census 2000 The United States census of 2000, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2 percent over the 248,709,873 people enumerated during the 1990 ce ...

. 85.7% spoke

and 10.7%

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

as their first language. There were 92,739 households, out of which 28.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.40% were married couples living together, 9.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.8% were non-families. 26.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.49 and the average family size was 3.01. In the county, the population was spread out, with 21.7% under the age of 18, 13.6% from 18 to 24, 27.0% from 25 to 44, 23.3% from 45 to 64, and 14.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 105.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 105.2 males. The median income for a household in the county was $42,428, and the median income for a family was $52,447. Males had a median income of $40,726 versus $27,450 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the county was $21,864. About 6.8% of families and 12.8% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

, including 11.4% of those under age 18 and 5.9% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

Club-haired Calochortus (Calochortus clavatus)

The mainstays of the economy are California Polytechnic State University with its almost 20,000 students, tourism, and agriculture. San Luis Obispo County's economy is primarily a service economy. Service jobs account for 38% of the County's jobs, government jobs accounts for 20.7%, and manufacturing jobs represent 6% of the County's jobs. San Luis Obispo County is the third largest producer of wine in California, surpassed only by Sonoma and Napa counties. Wine grapes are the second largest agricultural crop in the county (after strawberries), and the wine production they support creates a direct economic impact and a growing wine country vacation industry. The county led the state in hemp cultivation in 2018 as hundreds of acres of the crop were grown in research partnerships. In 2019, nine agricultural research permits were still active. Sixteen commercial permits were issued before a temporary ban on new applications running through June 2020 was passed by the Board of Supervisors.

Politics

Voter registration

Cities by population and voter registration

Overview

San Luis Obispo County leaned toward the Republican Party in presidential and congressional elections during the most of the 20th century; it has, however, become more Democratic starting in the 2000s. In 2008,

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

won the county with 51.2 percent of the vote. Prior to 2008, the last

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

to win a majority in the county was Lyndon Johnson in

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarc ...

, although

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

won a plurality in 1992. In 2012, Obama again won the county, this time with a slim plurality of the vote.

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

won with a larger plurality in 2016; and in 2020, Joe Biden won a solid 55% of the vote, the largest for any Democrat since Lyndon Johnson in 1964. County voters supported Republican

Meg Whitman Margaret Cushing Whitman (born August 4, 1956) is the US ambassador to Kenya, an American business executive and former gubernatorial candidate for California. She is a board member of Procter & Gamble and General Motors. Whitman was previously ...

in 2010 and Democrat

Jerry Brown Edmund Gerald Brown Jr. (born April 7, 1938) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as the 34th and 39th governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and 2011 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected Secretary of ...

in 2014. The previous Democrat to carry the county in a gubernatorial election was Gray Davis in 1998. With respect to the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

, San Luis Obispo County is in . From 2003 until 2013, the county was split between the Bakersfield-based 22nd district, which was represented by Republican

Kevin McCarthy Kevin Owen McCarthy (born January 26, 1965) is an American politician, serving as House Minority Leader in the United States House of Representatives since 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he served as House Majority Leader under spea ...

and included Paso Robles and most of the more conservative inland areas of the county, and Lois Capps' 23rd district, a strip which included most of the county's more liberal coastal areas as well as coastal areas of Santa Barbara and Ventura counties. With respect to the California State Senate, the county is in . With respect to the California State Assembly, the county is in . In April 2008, the California Secretary of State reported that there were 147,326 registered voters in San Luis Obispo County. Of those voters, 61,226 (41.6%) were registered Republicans, 52,586 (35.7%) were registered Democratic, 8,030 (5.4%) are registered with other political parties, and 25,484 (17.3%) declined to state a political preference. The cities of Grover Beach, Morro Bay, and San Luis Obispo had pluralities or majorities of registered Democratic voters, whereas the rest of the county's towns, cities, and the unincorporated areas have a plurality or majority of registered Republican voters.

Crime

The following table includes the number of incidents reported and the rate per 1,000 persons for each type of offense.

Cities by population and crime rates

Transportation

Major highways

U.S. Route 101 * California 1

State Route 1 * California 33

State Route 33 * California 41

State Route 41 The following highways are numbered 41: International * AH41, Asian Highway 41 * European route E41 Australia * Olympic Highway * Mid-Western Highway Canada * Alberta Highway 41 * British Columbia Highway 41 * Manitoba Highway 41 * Newfoundlan ...

State Route 46 * California 58

State Route 58 * California 166

State Route 166 * California 227

State Route 227 * California 229

State Route 229

Public transportation

San Luis Obispo County is served by

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada ...

trains and Greyhound Lines buses. The

San Luis Obispo Regional Transit Authority The San Luis Obispo Regional Transit Authority is the provider of intercity mass transportation in San Luis Obispo County, California San Luis Obispo County (), officially the County of San Luis Obispo, is a county on the Central Coast of C ...

provides countywide service along US 101 as well as service to Morro Bay, Los Osos, Cambria and San Simeon. The cities of San Luis Obispo, Atascadero and Paso Robles operate their own local bus services; all of these connect with SLORTA routes. Oceano County Airport 2013

Intercity service is provided by

trains, Greyhound Lines and Orange Belt Stages buses.

Airports

San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport , McChesney Field is a civil airport near San Luis Obispo, California, United States. Three passenger airlines serve the airport with nonstop flights to eight cities: Dallas-Fort Worth, Denver, Los Angeles ...

(SBP) is located just south of the City of San Luis Obispo. Commercial flights are available. *

Paso Robles Municipal Airport Paso Robles Municipal Airport is four miles (6 km) northeast of downtown Paso Robles, in San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. Facilities The airport covers 1,300 acres (5.3 km²) and has two runways and one helipad: ...

(PRB) is located north-east of the City of Paso Robles and is home to California Highway Patrol, CAL-FIRE and the Estrella Warbirds Museum. * Oceano County Airport (L52) is located on the coast in the 5 Cities area.

Future

In the future, SR 46 may be considered for a possible westward expansion of

Interstate 40 Interstate 40 (I-40) is a major east–west Interstate Highway running through the south-central portion of the United States. At a length of , it is the third-longest Interstate Highway in the country, after I-90 and I-80. From west to ea ...

via SR 58 from Barstow to Bakersfield, from Bakersfield to I-5 via Westside Parkway, and then following SR 46 to Paso Robles. SR 46 is slowly being upgraded to Interstate standards, minus overpasses between Interstate 5 and US Route 101.

Communities

Cities

* Grover Beach *

* Paso Robles *

Pismo Beach Pismo Beach (Chumash: ''Pismuʔ'') is a city in the southern portion of San Luis Obispo County, in the Central Coast area of California, United States. The estimated population was 8,072 at the 2020 census, up from 7,655 in the 2010 census. It ...

(county seat)

Unincorporated communities

* Baywood Park * Blacklake * California Polytechnic State University * California Valley * Callender *

* Creston * Cholame * Edna * Garden Farms *

Halcyon Halcyon is a name originally derived from Alcyone of Greek mythology. Halcyon or Halcyone may refer to: Arts and entertainment Television * ''Halcyon'' (TV series), a Virtual Reality murder mystery on SyFy * '' The Halcyon'', British period ...

* Harmony * Lake Nacimiento * Los Berros * Los Osos * Los Ranchos *

Nipomo Nipomo (; Chumash: ''Nipumuʔ'') is a unincorporated town in San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. The population was 16,714 for the 2010 census and grew to 18,176 for the 2020 census. For statistical purposes, the United States ...

* Oak Shores * Oceano * Pozo * San Miguel *

* Santa Margarita * Shandon * Templeton * Whitley Gardens *

Woodlands Woodlands may back refer to: * Woodland, a low-density forest Geography Australia * Woodlands, New South Wales * Woodlands, Ashgrove, Queensland, a heritage-listed house associated with John Henry Pepper * Woodlands, Marburg, Queensland, a her ...

Population ranking

The population ranking of the following table is based on the 2020 census of San Luis Obispo County. † ''county seat''

Notes

Footnotes

External links

{{authority control California counties 1850 establishments in California Populated places established in 1850