San Luis Obispo County, California

• White (non-Hispanic) 181,605 64.5%
• Hispanic or Latino (any race) 70,318 25.0%
• Black or African American (non-Hispanic) 3,058 1.1%
• Asian (non-Hispanic) 9,614 3.4%
• Two or more races (non-Hispanic) 14,243 5.1%
• American Indian / Alaska Native (non-Hispanic) 412 0.1%
• Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander (non-Hispanic) 358 0.1%
• Some other race (non-Hispanic) 1,947 0.7%

• Under 18 49,244 17.5%
• 18–24 41,959 14.9%
• 25–44 63,909 22.7%
• 45–64 64,105 22.8%
• 65 and over 62,338 22.1%

Median household income

$99,646

90% interval $96,532–$102,760

−$484 vs CA · 16th of 58

Below poverty line

12.6%

90% interval 11.2%–14.0%

+0.8 pp vs CA · 34th of 58

Unemployment (12-mo)

4.4%

−1 pp vs. state

County GDP

$24.5B

0.61% of state

Avg. annual pay

$64,561

Establishments

11,809

• Education & health services 30,980 25.5%
• Leisure & hospitality 20,417 16.8%
• Trade, transportation & utilities 20,264 16.7%
• Professional & business services 10,644 8.8%
• Construction 8,660 7.1%
• Public administration 8,540 7.0%
• Manufacturing 8,100 6.7%
• Natural resources & mining 5,312 4.4%
• Other services 3,961 3.3%
• Financial activities 3,650 3.0%
• Information 1,094 0.9%
• Unclassified 14 0.0%

Home ownership

62.1%

+6.2 pp vs CA · 33rd of 58

Median gross rent

$1,992

−$44 vs CA · 18th of 58

Owner-occupied

67,986

Renter-occupied

41,517

• Moderately concentrated

  Top three sectors employ 59% of the county workforce. Substantial intra-sector overlap among panelists is likely; confirm employer relationships before sector-specific framing.

• Moderate wage spread

  Highest-paid sector (Information, $116,435/yr) pays 3.7× the lowest (Leisure & hospitality, $31,390/yr). Expect meaningful income variation across the panel.

• Mixed business scale

  Average establishment employs 10 workers, a mix of institutional employers and small businesses. Both employed-by-large-institution and small-business-owner perspectives are likely on the panel.

• Democratic 81,314 53.9%
• Republican 64,932 43.1%
• Other / third-party 4,520 3.0%

• Spanish 35,124 13.0%
• Chinese 1,780 0.7%
• Tagalog 1,103 0.4%
• German or other West Germanic 1,046 0.4%
• Arabic 1,021 0.4%
• French, Haitian, or Cajun 861 0.3%
• Korean 670 0.2%
• Russian, Polish, or other Slavic 581 0.2%
• Vietnamese 442 0.2%

Households

109,503

Family households

68,580

62.6% of households

Married couples w/ children

17,566

25.6% of families

Single-mother families

4,630

6.8% of families

Veterans

14,563

6.3% of civilians 18+

• Catholic 57,298 20.3%
• Evangelical Protestant 30,531 10.8%
• Other (non-Christian + minor traditions) 15,404 5.5%
• Mainline Protestant 4,530 1.6%
• Black Protestant 1,134 0.4%
• Orthodox 150 0.1%

Health insured

94.3%

±0.6 pp

Uninsured

5.7%

±0.6 pp

36th of 58

With a disability

13.3%

±0.5 pp

27th of 58

Bachelor's or higher

39.8%

±1.1 pp

+2.7 pp vs CA · 16th of 58

Uninsured, under 65 (2024)

6.0%

90% interval 5.4%–6.6% · Census SAHIE

The under-65 uninsured rate is not comparable to the ACS insurance figures, which cover all ages.

Trial court

San Luis Obispo County Superior Court

Judges

18 (Superior Court judges + commissioners; vintage 2026 courts.ca.gov per-court rosters and Judicial Council Court Statistics Report. Counts for the smallest rural counties (Alpine, Sierra, Mono, Modoc, Trinity, Mariposa, Colusa) are at or near the statutory authorized-judgeship floor per Cal. Gov. Code § 69590 et seq.)

Court seats

San Luis Obispo

Traffic fatalities

30

12.91 per 100k adults (18+)

Fatal crashes

26