Costa Mesa, California demographics

Costa Mesa, CA demographics: median age 36.7; 45.0% of adults 25+ hold a bachelor’s degree. Age, race, households, languages and education, ACS 2020–2024 with margins of error.

ACS 2020–2024 · Costa Mesa city, California · Incorporated city · GEOID 0616532. The survey estimates a population of 110,330 for its five-year window. This is separate from the annual July 2025 population estimate on the city overview.

Median age in Costa Mesa is 36.7 years, with a 90% margin of error of 0.8 years. There are 42,292 households (±1,167). 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	36.7 ±0.8	37.9 ±0.1	38.9 ±0.1

Age groups · B01001 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 110,330
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	California	U.S.
Under 18	20,444 ±1,284	18.5% ±1.2 pp	22.0%	22.0%
18–34	31,152 ±1,507	28.2% ±1.4 pp	23.9%	22.8%
35–64	44,157 ±1,717	40.0% ±1.6 pp	38.5%	38.0%
65 and older	14,577 ±916	13.2% ±0.8 pp	15.7%	17.2%

Sex categories as published by ACS · B01001 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 110,330
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	California	U.S.
Male	56,676 ±1,338	51.4% ±1.2 pp	49.9%	49.5%
Female	53,654 ±1,342	48.6% ±1.2 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: 110,330
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	California	U.S.
White alone	57,177 ±2,158	51.8% ±2.0 pp	39.7%	61.0%
Black or African American alone	2,060 ±441	1.9% ±0.4 pp	5.4%	12.2%
American Indian and Alaska Native alone	1,234 ±439	1.1% ±0.4 pp	1.3%	0.9%
Asian alone	9,103 ±970	8.3% ±0.9 pp	15.5%	6.0%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone	718 ±368 · low precision	0.7% ±0.3 pp · low precision	0.4%	0.2%
Some other race alone	16,823 ±2,021	15.2% ±1.8 pp	18.5%	7.1%
Two or more races	23,215 ±2,182	21.0% ±2.0 pp	19.2%	12.6%

Hispanic or Latino origin · B03003 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 110,330
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	California	U.S.
Not Hispanic or Latino	69,916 ±2,218	63.4% ±2.0 pp	59.8%	80.7%
Hispanic or Latino	40,414 ±2,218	36.6% ±2.0 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: 42,292
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	California	U.S.
Married-couple family	18,031 ±744	42.6% ±1.3 pp	48.4%	46.9%
Other family: male householder, no spouse present	2,194 ±418	5.2% ±1.0 pp	6.3%	5.1%
Other family: female householder, no spouse present	4,532 ±517	10.7% ±1.2 pp	13.1%	12.2%
Nonfamily: householder living alone	12,138 ±1,081	28.7% ±2.4 pp	24.3%	28.7%
Nonfamily: householder not living alone	5,397 ±611	12.8% ±1.4 pp	7.9%	7.0%

Households with children · B11005 · ACS 2020–2024 Households: 42,292
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	California	U.S.
Households with people under 18	11,079 ±552	26.2% ±1.1 pp	32.4%	29.5%
Households without people under 18	31,213 ±1,389	73.8% ±2.6 pp	67.6%	70.5%

Household size · B11016 · ACS 2020–2024 Households: 42,292
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	California	U.S.
One-person nonfamily households	12,138 ±1,081	28.7% ±2.4 pp	24.3%	28.7%
Two-person households	13,813 ±915	32.7% ±2.0 pp	30.5%	33.8%
Three-person households	7,249 ±623	17.1% ±1.4 pp	16.7%	15.3%
Four-person households	4,799 ±500	11.3% ±1.1 pp	14.9%	12.6%
Five-person households	2,505 ±352	5.9% ±0.8 pp	7.7%	5.9%
Six-person households	1,026 ±230	2.4% ±0.5 pp	3.3%	2.2%
Seven or more people	762 ±282	1.8% ±0.7 pp	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: 110,330
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	California	U.S.
Native	85,695 ±1,624	77.7% ±1.5 pp	73.0%	85.9%
Foreign born	24,635 ±1,624	22.3% ±1.5 pp	27.0%	14.1%

Language spoken at home · C16001 · ACS 2020–2024 Population age 5 and older: 104,481
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	California	U.S.
English only	66,312 ±2,371	63.5% ±2.2 pp	55.6%	77.7%
Spanish	28,249 ±2,180	27.0% ±2.1 pp	28.3%	13.6%
French, Haitian, or Cajun	423 ±211	0.4% ±0.2 pp	0.4%	0.7%
German or other West Germanic	487 ±257 · low precision	0.5% ±0.2 pp · low precision	0.3%	0.5%
Russian, Polish, or other Slavic	765 ±283	0.7% ±0.3 pp	0.7%	0.7%
Other Indo-European	1,608 ±404	1.5% ±0.4 pp	3.5%	2.0%
Korean	263 ±126	0.3% ±0.1 pp	1.0%	0.3%
Chinese, including Mandarin and Cantonese	1,050 ±402	1.0% ±0.4 pp	3.5%	1.1%
Vietnamese	2,131 ±588	2.0% ±0.6 pp	1.5%	0.5%
Tagalog, including Filipino	974 ±377	0.9% ±0.4 pp	2.1%	0.6%
Other Asian and Pacific Island	1,600 ±515	1.5% ±0.5 pp	2.0%	1.1%
Arabic	454 ±240 · low precision	0.4% ±0.2 pp · low precision	0.6%	0.5%
Other and unspecified	165 ±191 · low precision	0.2% ±0.2 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: 79,911
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	California	U.S.
Less than high school graduate	9,486 ±926	11.9% ±1.1 pp	15.3%	10.4%
High school graduate or equivalency	13,516 ±983	16.9% ±1.2 pp	20.5%	26.0%
Some college, no degree	15,180 ±1,225	19.0% ±1.5 pp	19.3%	19.1%
Associate’s degree	5,801 ±609	7.3% ±0.8 pp	7.9%	8.8%
Bachelor’s degree	25,225 ±1,244	31.6% ±1.5 pp	22.7%	21.6%
Graduate or professional degree	10,703 ±780	13.4% ±0.9 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: 109,126
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	California	U.S.
Same house	93,136 ±1,552	85.3% ±1.4 pp	89.2%	87.7%
Moved within same county	11,942 ±1,345	10.9% ±1.2 pp	6.4%	6.3%
Moved from a different county in the same state	2,470 ±515	2.3% ±0.5 pp	2.6%	3.1%
Moved from a different state	948 ±281	0.9% ±0.3 pp	1.1%	2.3%
Moved from abroad	630 ±394 · low precision	0.6% ±0.4 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

9.5% of Costa Mesa residents (±1.0 percentage points) had no health insurance coverage when surveyed, compared with 6.6% in California and 8.4% nationally. 95.8% 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	Costa Mesa	California	U.S.	Compared with California
People without health insurance Civilian noninstitutionalized population	9.5% ±1.0 pp	6.6%	8.4%	Higher
Households with a broadband subscription Households	95.8% ±1.1 pp	93.5%	91.0%	Higher
Veterans Civilian population age 18 and older	3.5% ±0.5 pp	4.3%	6.2%	Lower

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 Costa Mesa . 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 Costa Mesa housing and cost context or return to the city profile.