About this dataset

Context

The dataset tabulates the population of San Diego County by race. It includes the population of San Diego County across racial categories (excluding ethnicity) as identified by the Census Bureau. The dataset can be utilized to understand the population distribution of San Diego County across relevant racial categories.

Key observations

The percent distribution of San Diego County population by race (across all racial categories recognized by the U.S. Census Bureau): 53.01% are white, 4.71% are Black or African American, 0.94% are American Indian and Alaska Native, 12.22% are Asian, 0.42% are Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander, 10.60% are some other race and 18.10% are multiracial.

Content

When available, the data consists of estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS) 2019-2023 5-Year Estimates.

Racial categories include:

• White
• Black or African American
• American Indian and Alaska Native
• Asian
• Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander
• Some other race
• Two or more races (multiracial)

Variables / Data Columns

• Race: This column displays the racial categories (excluding ethnicity) for the San Diego County
• Population: The population of the racial category (excluding ethnicity) in the San Diego County is shown in this column.
• % of Total Population: This column displays the percentage distribution of each race as a proportion of San Diego County total population. Please note that the sum of all percentages may not equal one due to rounding of values.

Good to know

Margin of Error

Data in the dataset are based on the estimates and are subject to sampling variability and thus a margin of error. Neilsberg Research recommends using caution when presening these estimates in your research.

Custom data

If you do need custom data for any of your research project, report or presentation, you can contact our research staff at research@neilsberg.com for a feasibility of a custom tabulation on a fee-for-service basis.

Inspiration

Neilsberg Research Team curates, analyze and publishes demographics and economic data from a variety of public and proprietary sources, each of which often includes multiple surveys and programs. The large majority of Neilsberg Research aggregated datasets and insights is made available for free download at https://www.neilsberg.com/research/.

Recommended for further research

This dataset is a part of the main dataset for San Diego County Population by Race & Ethnicity. You can refer the same here

Graph and download economic data for Resident Population in San Diego County, CA (CASAND5POP) from 1970 to 2024 about San Diego County, CA; San Diego; residents; CA; population; and USA.

Comprehensive demographic dataset for San Diego, CA, US including population statistics, household income, housing units, education levels, employment data, and transportation with year-over-year changes.

This dataset contains data included in the San Diego County Regional Equity Indicators Report led by the Office of Equity and Racial Justice (OERJ). The full report can be found here: https://data.sandiegocounty.gov/stories/s/7its-kgpt.

Geographic data used to create maps in the report can be found here: https://data.sandiegocounty.gov/dataset/Equity-Report-Data-Geography/p6uw-qxpv

Filter by the Indicator column to select data for a particular indicator.

User notes: 10/9/25 - for the report year 2025, data for the following indicators were uploaded with changes relative to report year 2023: Crime Rate: As of January 1, 2021, the FBI replaced the Summary Reporting System (SRS) with the National Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS), which expands how crimes were recorded and classified. This report uses California’s version of NIBRS, the California Incident Based Reporting System (CIBRS), obtained from the SANDAG Open Data Portal. Crime rates are not disaggregated by jurisdiction, as in the previous Equity Indicator Report. Internet access: The age group variable was incorporated to account for notable disparities in internet access by age. Police Stops and Searches: refined methods. Agency data was aggregated to San Diego County because data was available for all agencies; previously data was available for three agencies. Analysis of RIPA data was updated to exclude stops where the stop was made in response to a call for service, combine transgender women and transgender men into a transgender category, and limit to contraband found during search. Used term “discovery rate” instead of “hit rate.” Removed comparison to traffic collision data and instead compared to population estimates from the American Community Survey. Jail Incarceration: new data sources. The numerator data for the average daily population data in jail was obtained from the San Diego County Sheriff's Office. Population data to calculate the rates was obtained from the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG). The terms for conviction status were corrected to "locally sentenced" and "unsentenced" for sentencing status. For jail population data, East African was reclassified as Black and Middle Eastern as White to allow for calculation of rates using SANDAG population estimates.

8/1/25 - for the report year 2025, the following change were made: Business Ownership: the minority and nonminority labels were switched for the population estimates and some of the race/ethnicity data for nonemployer businesses were corrected. Homelessness: added asterisks to category name for unincorporated regions to allow for a footnote in the figure in the story page.

7/11/25 - for the report year 2025, the following changes were made: Beach Water Quality: the number of days with advisories was corrected for Imperial Beach municipal beach, San Diego Bay, and Ocean Beach.

5/22/25 - for the report year 2023, the following changes were made: Youth poverty/Poverty: IPUMS identified an error in the POVERTY variable for multi-year ACS samples. In July 2024, they released a revised version of all multi-year ACS samples to IPUMS USA, which included corrected POVERTY values. The corrected POVERTY values were downloaded, and the analysis was rerun for this indicator using the 2021 ACS 5-year Estimates. Youth Poverty: data source label corrected to be 2021 for all years. Employment, Homeownership, and Cost-Burdened Households - Notes were made consistent for rows where category = Race/Ethnicity.

5/9/25 - Excluding data for the crime section indicators, data were appended on May 9, 2025 and the report will be updated to reflect the new data in August 2025. The following changes in methods were made: For indicators based on American Community Survey (ACS) data, the foreign-born category name was changed to Nativity Status. Internet access: Group quarters is a category included in the survey sample, but it is not part of the universe for the analysis. For the 2025 Equity Report year, respondents in group quarters were excluded from the analysis, whereas for the 2023 Equity Report year, these respondents were included. Adverse childhood experiences - new data source.

Prepared by: Office of Evaluation, Performance, and Analytics and the Office of Equity and Racial Justice, County of San Diego, in collaboration with the San Diego Regional Policy & Innovation Center (https://www.sdrpic.org).

Graph and download economic data for Resident Population in San Diego-Carlsbad, CA (MSA) (SDIPOP) from 2000 to 2024 about San Diego, residents, CA, population, and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Population Estimate, Total (5-year estimate) in San Diego County, CA (B03002001E006073) from 2009 to 2023 about San Diego County, CA; San Diego; estimate; CA; 5-year; persons; population; and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Estimate, Median Age by Sex, Total Population (5-year estimate) in San Diego County, CA (B01002001E006073) from 2009 to 2023 about San Diego County, CA; San Diego; age; CA; 5-year; median; and USA.

About this dataset

Context

The dataset tabulates the San Diego population over the last 20 plus years. It lists the population for each year, along with the year on year change in population, as well as the change in percentage terms for each year. The dataset can be utilized to understand the population change of San Diego across the last two decades. For example, using this dataset, we can identify if the population is declining or increasing. If there is a change, when the population peaked, or if it is still growing and has not reached its peak. We can also compare the trend with the overall trend of United States population over the same period of time.

Key observations

In 2023, the population of San Diego was 1.39 million, a 0.07% increase year-by-year from 2022. Previously, in 2022, San Diego population was 1.39 million, an increase of 0.82% compared to a population of 1.38 million in 2021. Over the last 20 plus years, between 2000 and 2023, population of San Diego increased by 160,441. In this period, the peak population was 1.42 million in the year 2019. The numbers suggest that the population has already reached its peak and is showing a trend of decline. Source: U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP).

Content

When available, the data consists of estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP).

Data Coverage:

• From 2000 to 2023

Variables / Data Columns

• Year: This column displays the data year (Measured annually and for years 2000 to 2023)
• Population: The population for the specific year for the San Diego is shown in this column.
• Year on Year Change: This column displays the change in San Diego population for each year compared to the previous year.
• Change in Percent: This column displays the year on year change as a percentage. Please note that the sum of all percentages may not equal one due to rounding of values.

Good to know

Margin of Error

Data in the dataset are based on the estimates and are subject to sampling variability and thus a margin of error. Neilsberg Research recommends using caution when presening these estimates in your research.

Custom data

If you do need custom data for any of your research project, report or presentation, you can contact our research staff at research@neilsberg.com for a feasibility of a custom tabulation on a fee-for-service basis.

Inspiration

Neilsberg Research Team curates, analyze and publishes demographics and economic data from a variety of public and proprietary sources, each of which often includes multiple surveys and programs. The large majority of Neilsberg Research aggregated datasets and insights is made available for free download at https://www.neilsberg.com/research/.

Recommended for further research

This dataset is a part of the main dataset for San Diego Population by Year. You can refer the same here

The number and percent of the population stratified by race/ethnicity. API refers to Asian/ Pacific Islanders and include Asian, Pacific Islander, and Native Hawaiian. Other Race includes American Indian or Alaska Native, 2 or more races, and other. Source: U.S. Census Bureau; 2011-2015 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, Table B03002.

Splitgraph serves as an HTTP API that lets you run SQL queries directly on this data to power Web applications. For example:

See the Splitgraph documentation for more information.

This indicator shows total population broken down by race/ethnicity. Note: In previous iterations of the Demographic Profiles, American Indian/Aslakan Native (AIAN) had been part of the 'Other*' category. Beginning in 2017, 'AIAN' will be a unique category. People of Hispanic origin may be of any race. *API refers to Asian/ Pacific Islanders and include Asian, Pacific Islander, and Native Hawaiian; AIAN refers to American Indian/ Alaskan Natives; Other includes those of two or more races or other. Source: U.S. Census Bureau; 2013-2017 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, Table B03002.

In 2021, the population of the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metropolitan area in the United States was about 3.29 million people. This is was a slight decrease compared to the previous year, when the population was about 3.3 million.

Graph and download economic data for Percent of Population Below the Poverty Level (5-year estimate) in San Diego County, CA (S1701ACS006073) from 2012 to 2023 about San Diego County, CA; San Diego; poverty; percent; CA; 5-year; population; and USA.

Comprehensive demographic dataset for North Park, San Diego, CA, US including population statistics, household income, housing units, education levels, employment data, and transportation with year-over-year changes.

Comprehensive demographic dataset for Old Town San Diego, San Diego, CA, US including population statistics, household income, housing units, education levels, employment data, and transportation with year-over-year changes.

Graph and download economic data for Population Estimate, Total, Hispanic or Latino, Two or More Races, Two Races Including Some Other Race (5-year estimate) in San Diego County, CA (B03002020E006073) from 2009 to 2023 about San Diego County, CA; San Diego; latino; hispanic; estimate; CA; 5-year; persons; population; and USA.

Historical dataset of population level and growth rate for the San Diego metro area from 1950 to 2025.

Comprehensive demographic dataset for El Cerrito, San Diego, CA, US including population statistics, household income, housing units, education levels, employment data, and transportation with year-over-year changes.

Comprehensive demographic dataset for University Heights, San Diego, CA, US including population statistics, household income, housing units, education levels, employment data, and transportation with year-over-year changes.

Veterans by largest Race and Ethnicity categories, by Health and Human Services Service Area.

Veterans: Civilians who have served (even for a short time), but are not currently serving, on active duty in the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, or the Coast Guard, or who served in the U.S. Merchant Marine during World War II. People who served in the National Guard or Reserves are classified as veterans only if they were ever called or ordered to active duty. Source: U.S. Census Bureau; 2012-2016 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, Table S2101.

Splitgraph serves as an HTTP API that lets you run SQL queries directly on this data to power Web applications. For example:

See the Splitgraph documentation for more information.

Comprehensive demographic dataset for Carmel Valley, San Diego, CA, US including population statistics, household income, housing units, education levels, employment data, and transportation with year-over-year changes.