Carlsbad, California demographics

Carlsbad, CA demographics: median age 42.5; 62.1% of adults 25+ hold a bachelor’s degree. Age, race, households, languages and education, ACS 2020–2024 with margins of error.

ACS 2020–2024 · Carlsbad city, California · Incorporated city · GEOID 0611194. The survey estimates a population of 114,373 for its five-year window. This is separate from the annual July 2025 population estimate on the city overview.

Median age in Carlsbad is 42.5 years, with a 90% margin of error of 1.0 years. There are 44,038 households (±942). Age and household distributions show how these totals are composed; they do not establish which neighborhood suits a particular person.

Every count and share is an estimate. “±” is a 90% margin of error (MOE); pp means percentage points. Derived shares use the category count divided by the named universe. Aggregated category MOEs and percentage MOEs are approximate. A margin larger than half its estimate is flagged as low precision. Blank source uncertainty is shown as unavailable, never zero.

Age distribution and sex

City, state and U.S. estimates · ACS 2020–2024
Measure / survey universe	City estimate ± MOE	State estimate ± MOE	U.S. estimate ± MOE
Median age Total population · years	42.5 ±1.0	37.9 ±0.1	38.9 ±0.1

Age groups · B01001 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 114,373
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	California	U.S.
Under 18	26,746 ±1,570	23.4% ±1.4 pp	22.0%	22.0%
18–34	18,693 ±1,308	16.3% ±1.1 pp	23.9%	22.8%
35–64	47,476 ±1,752	41.5% ±1.5 pp	38.5%	38.0%
65 and older	21,458 ±1,084	18.8% ±0.9 pp	15.7%	17.2%

Sex categories as published by ACS · B01001 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 114,373
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	California	U.S.
Male	56,847 ±1,114	49.7% ±1.0 pp	49.9%	49.5%
Female	57,526 ±1,128	50.3% ±1.0 pp	50.1%	50.5%

The age groups are mutually exclusive and cover the entire population. The sex categories follow this ACS table’s published classification; they are not a survey of gender identity.

Race and Hispanic origin

Race · B02001 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 114,373
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	California	U.S.
White alone	79,511 ±2,275	69.5% ±2.0 pp	39.7%	61.0%
Black or African American alone	1,491 ±468	1.3% ±0.4 pp	5.4%	12.2%
American Indian and Alaska Native alone	701 ±398 · low precision	0.6% ±0.3 pp · low precision	1.3%	0.9%
Asian alone	9,587 ±1,738	8.4% ±1.5 pp	15.5%	6.0%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone	174 ±201 · low precision	0.2% ±0.2 pp · low precision	0.4%	0.2%
Some other race alone	4,975 ±1,231	4.3% ±1.1 pp	18.5%	7.1%
Two or more races	17,934 ±2,101	15.7% ±1.8 pp	19.2%	12.6%

Hispanic or Latino origin · B03003 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 114,373
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	California	U.S.
Not Hispanic or Latino	94,502 ±1,992	82.6% ±1.7 pp	59.8%	80.7%
Hispanic or Latino	19,871 ±1,986	17.4% ±1.7 pp	40.2%	19.3%

Hispanic origin and race are separate questions. People of Hispanic or Latino origin may be of any race and appear in both tables. Do not add the Hispanic share to race shares. Race alone and two-or-more-race groups are the mutually exclusive categories of the race table.

Household types, children and living alone

Household types · B11001 · ACS 2020–2024 Households: 44,038
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	California	U.S.
Married-couple family	25,492 ±954	57.9% ±1.8 pp	48.4%	46.9%
Other family: male householder, no spouse present	1,321 ±428	3.0% ±1.0 pp	6.3%	5.1%
Other family: female householder, no spouse present	3,684 ±600	8.4% ±1.4 pp	13.1%	12.2%
Nonfamily: householder living alone	10,455 ±894	23.7% ±2.0 pp	24.3%	28.7%
Nonfamily: householder not living alone	3,086 ±441	7.0% ±1.0 pp	7.9%	7.0%

Households with children · B11005 · ACS 2020–2024 Households: 44,038
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	California	U.S.
Households with people under 18	13,357 ±606	30.3% ±1.2 pp	32.4%	29.5%
Households without people under 18	30,681 ±1,349	69.7% ±2.7 pp	67.6%	70.5%

Household size · B11016 · ACS 2020–2024 Households: 44,038
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	California	U.S.
One-person nonfamily households	10,455 ±894	23.7% ±2.0 pp	24.3%	28.7%
Two-person households	16,012 ±1,006	36.4% ±2.1 pp	30.5%	33.8%
Three-person households	7,850 ±674	17.8% ±1.5 pp	16.7%	15.3%
Four-person households	6,286 ±637	14.3% ±1.4 pp	14.9%	12.6%
Five-person households	2,607 ±376	5.9% ±0.8 pp	7.7%	5.9%
Six-person households	626 ±181	1.4% ±0.4 pp	3.3%	2.2%
Seven or more people	202 ±126 · low precision	0.5% ±0.3 pp · low precision	2.6%	1.4%

A family household contains related people under the Census definition. A nonfamily household can contain one person or unrelated people sharing a home. Households with children can also appear in the household-type and size tables, so those tables must not be added together. Household estimates exclude people living in group quarters from the household universe.

Nativity and languages spoken at home

Nativity · B05002 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 114,373
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	California	U.S.
Native	98,290 ±1,438	85.9% ±1.3 pp	73.0%	85.9%
Foreign born	16,083 ±1,437	14.1% ±1.3 pp	27.0%	14.1%

Language spoken at home · C16001 · ACS 2020–2024 Population age 5 and older: 109,043
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	California	U.S.
English only	89,767 ±1,928	82.3% ±1.7 pp	55.6%	77.7%
Spanish	9,497 ±1,480	8.7% ±1.4 pp	28.3%	13.6%
French, Haitian, or Cajun	499 ±243	0.5% ±0.2 pp	0.4%	0.7%
German or other West Germanic	715 ±500 · low precision	0.7% ±0.5 pp · low precision	0.3%	0.5%
Russian, Polish, or other Slavic	906 ±373	0.8% ±0.3 pp	0.7%	0.7%
Other Indo-European	2,674 ±835	2.5% ±0.8 pp	3.5%	2.0%
Korean	338 ±167	0.3% ±0.2 pp	1.0%	0.3%
Chinese, including Mandarin and Cantonese	1,560 ±613	1.4% ±0.6 pp	3.5%	1.1%
Vietnamese	723 ±485 · low precision	0.7% ±0.4 pp · low precision	1.5%	0.5%
Tagalog, including Filipino	546 ±229	0.5% ±0.2 pp	2.1%	0.6%
Other Asian and Pacific Island	1,039 ±312	1.0% ±0.3 pp	2.0%	1.1%
Arabic	609 ±378 · low precision	0.6% ±0.3 pp · low precision	0.6%	0.5%
Other and unspecified	170 ±118 · low precision	0.2% ±0.1 pp · low precision	0.6%	0.8%

Foreign born means not a U.S. citizen at birth; it includes naturalized citizens. Language categories describe speech at home among people age five and older. A language other than English at home does not establish that someone cannot speak English. This city page uses the published C16001 summary categories because the more detailed B16001 table does not provide these city records in this release.

Educational attainment

Highest completed education · B15003 · ACS 2020–2024 Population age 25 and older: 80,987
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	California	U.S.
Less than high school graduate	2,968 ±675	3.7% ±0.8 pp	15.3%	10.4%
High school graduate or equivalency	7,017 ±828	8.7% ±1.0 pp	20.5%	26.0%
Some college, no degree	14,720 ±1,121	18.2% ±1.4 pp	19.3%	19.1%
Associate’s degree	6,022 ±695	7.4% ±0.8 pp	7.9%	8.8%
Bachelor’s degree	29,398 ±1,248	36.3% ±1.4 pp	22.7%	21.6%
Graduate or professional degree	20,862 ±1,280	25.8% ±1.5 pp	14.4%	14.1%

The denominator excludes residents under 25. Each person is counted in the highest attainment category they completed. This table does not measure the quality of local schools or the education level of every current student.

Residence one year earlier

Geographic mobility · B07003 · ACS 2020–2024 Population age 1 and older: 113,184
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	California	U.S.
Same house	97,248 ±1,890	85.9% ±1.6 pp	89.2%	87.7%
Moved within same county	10,212 ±1,753	9.0% ±1.5 pp	6.4%	6.3%
Moved from a different county in the same state	2,506 ±560	2.2% ±0.5 pp	2.6%	3.1%
Moved from a different state	2,560 ±560	2.3% ±0.5 pp	1.1%	2.3%
Moved from abroad	658 ±346 · low precision	0.6% ±0.3 pp · low precision	0.7%	0.6%

These are respondents’ residence patterns one year before their survey response, pooled across the five-year window. They are not a net migration count for 2025. A person can move to a different house within the same city or county; moves within the same county should not automatically be interpreted as new arrivals to the city.

Health insurance, internet access and veterans

4.0% of Carlsbad residents (±0.9 percentage points) had no health insurance coverage when surveyed, compared with 6.6% in California and 8.4% nationally. 96.1% of households subscribe to broadband of any type, including cellular data plans. A subscription is not the same as available service: the FCC National Broadband Map shows providers at a specific address.

City, state and U.S. shares · ACS 2020–2024
Measure	Carlsbad	California	U.S.	Compared with California
People without health insurance Civilian noninstitutionalized population	4.0% ±0.9 pp	6.6%	8.4%	Lower
Households with a broadband subscription Households	96.1% ±0.9 pp	93.5%	91.0%	Higher
Veterans Civilian population age 18 and older	7.0% ±0.6 pp	4.3%	6.2%	Higher

Reading and reusing the estimates

The Census table links above lead to the original detailed tables. Counts, source universes and uncertainty are retained in the source observation download for Carlsbad . Compare these figures with the same survey window; do not compare one city’s five-year estimate with another city’s annual estimate as though they measured the same period. For methods, see uncertainty and denominator calculations.

Read Carlsbad housing and cost context or return to the city profile.