County profile
San Luis Obispo County, CA
United States · GDP 2024
#221 of 3,127 US counties by GDP71st-percentile growthmore diversified than 87% of counties
EA Place Score
——methodology in progress
GDP 2024 (USD)
$24.5B
BEA · 2024
GDP growth (YoY)
+6.3%
BEA · 2024
Jobs tracked
98,720
Census CBP · 2023
Employers
8,962
Census CBP · 2023
Avg. wage
$59.7k
BLS QCEW · 2023
Population
282,367
Census PEP · 2025
Labor, income & education
Unemployment
4.3%
Median HH income
$97.4k±$2.9k
Bachelor's degree+
39.8%±1.1%
Poverty rate
12.9%±0.8%
Business applications
2,707 · 2025
Retail establishments
1,077
38.2/10k pop
Public companies headquartered here
SEC EDGAR · FMPCompanySectorRevenueEA
No public companies loaded for this state yet — universe expands with the full ingest.
HQ-based placement with total (global) headcount — local employment attribution needs firmographic data; the industry mix at right is measured county data (CBP).
Industry mix · employment
Food & accommodation26%
Health care24%
Retail trade20%
Manufacturing11%
Construction11%
Professional services8%
share of top-6 sector employment · CBP 2023
Population & migration
Census PEP · 2020–2025
282,367
residents · 2025 · +0.0% since 2020
Income per capita $77.6k · BEA 2024
COMPONENTS OF CHANGE · 2021–2025
Domestic migration−778
International migration+1,820
Natural change−1,027
GDP trend
2019–2024 · nominal
$18.1B2019
$18.2B2020
$20.3B2021
$22.0B2022
$23.1B2023
$24.5B2024
Real estate & risk
FHFA · ACS · FEMA
Median home value
$824.7k±$12.2k
Median gross rent
$2.0k/mo±$45/mo
Vacancy rate
12.9%±0.8%
Affordability
13.8× wages
Residential permits
$235.2M
663 units · 2.3/1k pop
FEMA risk score
95.9
HUD Fair Market Rent (2BR):$2.7k/mo · 2026
TOP PERILS · FEMA NRI
Drought 100Landslide 99Wildfire 98
FHFA HOUSE PRICE INDEX · 2016–2025
14662016
15452017
16202018
16732019
17012020
18842021
21832022
23512023
24302024
25102025
RESIDENTIAL PERMITS · 2021–2025
↓ -41% since 20211,1202021
1,1112022
9622023
1,1042024
6632025
Transport access
BTS · FAA · USACE
Nearest interstate
71.5 km
I-5
Nearest freight rail
18.2 km
UP
Nearest port
37.6 km
VANDENBURG AFB, CA
Nearest commercial airport
27.4 km
SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY RGNL
Wage trend
BLS QCEW · 2019–2023$59.7k
avg. annual pay · +17% since 2019
Similar US counties
nearest by GDPNearby & same-state counties
by GDP rankThe read
What is the GDP of San Luis Obispo?
San Luis Obispo's economy produced $24.5B in 2024, growing 6.3% year over year — faster than most US counties. Its largest employment sector is food & accommodation.
GDP: BEA (2024), USD-normalized · Jobs/employers/wages & industry mix: Census CBP (2023) · Population & migration: Census PEP · Income: BEA CAINC1 · Companies: SEC EDGAR + FMP, by HQ.