San Luis Obispo, California demographics

San Luis Obispo, CA demographics: median age 26.3; 54.4% of adults 25+ hold a bachelor’s degree. Age, race, households, languages and education, ACS 2020–2024 with margins of error.

ACS 2020–2024 · San Luis Obispo city, California · Incorporated city · GEOID 0668154. The survey estimates a population of 48,491 for its five-year window. This is separate from the annual July 2025 population estimate on the city overview.

Median age in San Luis Obispo is 26.3 years, with a 90% margin of error of 1.2 years. There are 20,441 households (±723). 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	26.3 ±1.2	37.9 ±0.1	38.9 ±0.1

Age groups · B01001 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 48,491
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	California	U.S.
Under 18	4,991 ±505	10.3% ±1.0 pp	22.0%	22.0%
18–34	24,414 ±1,583	50.3% ±3.3 pp	23.9%	22.8%
35–64	11,876 ±741	24.5% ±1.5 pp	38.5%	38.0%
65 and older	7,210 ±550	14.9% ±1.1 pp	15.7%	17.2%

Sex categories as published by ACS · B01001 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 48,491
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	California	U.S.
Male	23,602 ±660	48.7% ±1.4 pp	49.9%	49.5%
Female	24,889 ±662	51.3% ±1.4 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: 48,491
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	California	U.S.
White alone	35,567 ±736	73.3% ±1.5 pp	39.7%	61.0%
Black or African American alone	601 ±257	1.2% ±0.5 pp	5.4%	12.2%
American Indian and Alaska Native alone	265 ±156 · low precision	0.5% ±0.3 pp · low precision	1.3%	0.9%
Asian alone	2,756 ±433	5.7% ±0.9 pp	15.5%	6.0%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone	52 ±48 · low precision	0.1% ±0.1 pp · low precision	0.4%	0.2%
Some other race alone	2,630 ±480	5.4% ±1.0 pp	18.5%	7.1%
Two or more races	6,620 ±631	13.7% ±1.3 pp	19.2%	12.6%

Hispanic or Latino origin · B03003 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 48,491
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	California	U.S.
Not Hispanic or Latino	39,562 ±797	81.6% ±1.6 pp	59.8%	80.7%
Hispanic or Latino	8,929 ±803	18.4% ±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: 20,441
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	California	U.S.
Married-couple family	6,363 ±435	31.1% ±1.8 pp	48.4%	46.9%
Other family: male householder, no spouse present	619 ±163	3.0% ±0.8 pp	6.3%	5.1%
Other family: female householder, no spouse present	1,345 ±253	6.6% ±1.2 pp	13.1%	12.2%
Nonfamily: householder living alone	6,063 ±627	29.7% ±2.9 pp	24.3%	28.7%
Nonfamily: householder not living alone	6,051 ±492	29.6% ±2.2 pp	7.9%	7.0%

Households with children · B11005 · ACS 2020–2024 Households: 20,441
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	California	U.S.
Households with people under 18	2,839 ±264	13.9% ±1.2 pp	32.4%	29.5%
Households without people under 18	17,602 ±762	86.1% ±2.1 pp	67.6%	70.5%

Household size · B11016 · ACS 2020–2024 Households: 20,441
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	California	U.S.
One-person nonfamily households	6,063 ±627	29.7% ±2.9 pp	24.3%	28.7%
Two-person households	7,272 ±590	35.6% ±2.6 pp	30.5%	33.8%
Three-person households	3,098 ±413	15.2% ±1.9 pp	16.7%	15.3%
Four-person households	2,635 ±329	12.9% ±1.5 pp	14.9%	12.6%
Five-person households	801 ±217	3.9% ±1.1 pp	7.7%	5.9%
Six-person households	305 ±109	1.5% ±0.5 pp	3.3%	2.2%
Seven or more people	267 ±151 · low precision	1.3% ±0.7 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: 48,491
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	California	U.S.
Native	44,538 ±496	91.8% ±1.0 pp	73.0%	85.9%
Foreign born	3,953 ±506	8.2% ±1.0 pp	27.0%	14.1%

Language spoken at home · C16001 · ACS 2020–2024 Population age 5 and older: 47,086
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	California	U.S.
English only	39,032 ±762	82.9% ±1.5 pp	55.6%	77.7%
Spanish	5,059 ±690	10.7% ±1.5 pp	28.3%	13.6%
French, Haitian, or Cajun	274 ±167 · low precision	0.6% ±0.4 pp · low precision	0.4%	0.7%
German or other West Germanic	241 ±94	0.5% ±0.2 pp	0.3%	0.5%
Russian, Polish, or other Slavic	196 ±144 · low precision	0.4% ±0.3 pp · low precision	0.7%	0.7%
Other Indo-European	616 ±257	1.3% ±0.5 pp	3.5%	2.0%
Korean	115 ±98 · low precision	0.2% ±0.2 pp · low precision	1.0%	0.3%
Chinese, including Mandarin and Cantonese	517 ±175	1.1% ±0.4 pp	3.5%	1.1%
Vietnamese	215 ±165 · low precision	0.5% ±0.4 pp · low precision	1.5%	0.5%
Tagalog, including Filipino	161 ±76	0.3% ±0.2 pp	2.1%	0.6%
Other Asian and Pacific Island	273 ±128	0.6% ±0.3 pp	2.0%	1.1%
Arabic	283 ±187 · low precision	0.6% ±0.4 pp · low precision	0.6%	0.5%
Other and unspecified	104 ±91 · 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: 25,381
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	California	U.S.
Less than high school graduate	867 ±197	3.4% ±0.8 pp	15.3%	10.4%
High school graduate or equivalency	3,236 ±427	12.7% ±1.6 pp	20.5%	26.0%
Some college, no degree	5,244 ±581	20.7% ±2.2 pp	19.3%	19.1%
Associate’s degree	2,238 ±327	8.8% ±1.3 pp	7.9%	8.8%
Bachelor’s degree	7,691 ±542	30.3% ±1.9 pp	22.7%	21.6%
Graduate or professional degree	6,105 ±549	24.1% ±2.0 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: 48,265
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	California	U.S.
Same house	32,435 ±1,221	67.2% ±2.5 pp	89.2%	87.7%
Moved within same county	9,042 ±863	18.7% ±1.8 pp	6.4%	6.3%
Moved from a different county in the same state	5,296 ±766	11.0% ±1.6 pp	2.6%	3.1%
Moved from a different state	1,239 ±304	2.6% ±0.6 pp	1.1%	2.3%
Moved from abroad	253 ±141 · low precision	0.5% ±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

4.6% of San Luis Obispo residents (±1.0 percentage points) had no health insurance coverage when surveyed, compared with 6.6% in California and 8.4% nationally. 92.7% 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	San Luis Obispo	California	U.S.	Compared with California
People without health insurance Civilian noninstitutionalized population	4.6% ±1.0 pp	6.6%	8.4%	Lower
Households with a broadband subscription Households	92.7% ±4.6 pp	93.5%	91.0%	Not statistically different
Veterans Civilian population age 18 and older	3.1% ±0.6 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 San Luis Obispo . 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 San Luis Obispo housing and cost context or return to the city profile.