HomeCaliforniaSan Diego CountyLa Mesa city
La Mesa city, California: commercial real estate data.
La Mesa city is a Census city of 60,797 people across 9.09 square miles of land, in San Diego County. Median household income is $95,028, 47.7 percent of occupied homes are owned, and the SBA record carries 87 7(a) approvals to borrowers here worth $51.6 m.
82 sourced place values · tier FULL · 9 sections · underlined figures are computed by MMCG Analytics, not published by the agency
La Mesa
What La Mesa is
- Census place typecity
- Land area9.09 sq mi
- Water area0 sq mi
- Population per square mile of land6,687
- County holding the largest share of its areaSan Diego County, 100.0 percent
US Census Bureau, cartographic boundary file, places, 2024 vintage. US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
La Mesa
How many people live in La Mesa
- Population60,797
- Median age37.4
- Population under 1813,217
- Share under 1821.7 percent
- Population 65 and over9,437
- Share 65 and over15.5 percent
- Households25,038
- Family households14,231
- Share of households that are families56.8 percent
US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
La Mesa
Income and work in La Mesa
- Median household income$95,028
- Per capita income$49,543
- Civilian labor force32,408
- Employed30,406
- Unemployed2,002 plus or minus 403
- Unemployment rate6.2 percent
- Adults 25 and over43,389
- Adults 25 and over with a high school diploma or higher94.5 percent
- Adults 25 and over with a bachelor degree or higher40.6 percent
- Adults 25 and over with a graduate degree14.9 percent
US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
La Mesa
Housing in La Mesa
- Housing units26,212
- Occupied units25,038
- Vacant units1,174 plus or minus 288
- Vacancy rate4.5 percent plus or minus 1.1
- Owner occupied11,933
- Renter occupied13,105
- Ownership rate47.7 percent
- Median owner-occupied home value$812,000
- Median gross rent, monthly$2,049
- Annual rent as a share of median income25.9 percent
- Single family units13,842
- Share single family52.8 percent
- Units in buildings of two or more12,015
- Share in buildings of two or more45.8 percent
- Mobile homes269 plus or minus 131
- Median year structure built1971
US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
La Mesa
How La Mesa gets to work
- Workers 16 and over who commute25,381
- Commuting under 15 minutes5,555
- Share commuting under 15 minutes21.9 percent
- Commuting 30 minutes or more7,815
- Share commuting 30 minutes or more30.8 percent
- Drove alone69.9 percent
- Carpooled6.8 percent
- Public transport1.3 percent plus or minus 0.5
- Walked2.6 percent plus or minus 0.7
- Worked from home17.8 percent
US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
La Mesa
SBA loans in La Mesa (7(a))
- Approvals87
- Gross approval$51,565,100
- Average approval$592,702
- Median approval$230,500
- Ninetieth percentile approval$1,699,000
- Largest approval$5,000,000
- Jobs supported1,386
- Jobs per approval15.9
- Loans with a final outcome16
- Paid in full14
- Charged off2
- Charge-off rate over resolved loans12.5 percent
- Median term120 months
- Share on real estate terms of 20 years or more20.7 percent
- Share to franchises13.8 percent
- Distinct lenders37
- Distinct industries by NAICS62
US Small Business Administration, 7(a) FOIA release, FY2020 to FY2026 year to date, as of 2026-06-30.
La Mesa
SBA loans in La Mesa (504)
- Approvals28
- Gross approval$20,478,000
- Average approval$731,357
- Median approval$613,000
- Largest approval$1,762,000
- Jobs supported206
- Loans with a final outcome10
- Charged off0
- Charge-off rate over resolved loans0.0 percent
- Median term300 months
- Distinct CDCs7
US Small Business Administration, 504 FOIA release, FY2010 to FY2026 year to date, as of 2026-06-30.
La Mesa
Flood risk in La Mesa
- Listed NFIP communities1
- Of those, participating1
- NFIP community number060292
- Currently effective map date03/03/26
This community carries no Community Rating System class, so no CRS premium discount applies to it.
FEMA, National Flood Insurance Program Community Status Book, Community Status Book, as retrieved.
San Diego County, not La Mesa
San Diego County context, not La Mesa figures
These are San Diego County figures. There is no place level equivalent published for any of them, so they are shown as the county backdrop and never as La Mesa measurements.
- Establishments in San Diego County93,407
- Employment at those establishments, San Diego County1,391,721
- Covered employment, San Diego County1,536,541
- Average annual pay, San Diego County$82,854
- Average weekly wage, San Diego County$1,593
- Housing units permitted, San Diego County11,572
- Of those, single family, San Diego County3,377
- County product, 2024, San Diego County$331,867,565,000
- County product change over the prior year, San Diego County5.3 percent
- Average income of an arriving household, San Diego County$103,475
Every figure in this section is published for San Diego County as a whole and is not a measurement of La Mesa. It is here because a county backdrop is what a credit committee reads a place against, and it is labelled so that it can never be quoted as the place's own.
US Census Bureau, County Business Patterns, 2023. US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, 2024 annual averages. US Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey, 2024 annual. US Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional, table CAGDP2, CAGDP2, through 2024. US Internal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income county migration flows, 2021 to 2022 filing years.
Coverage
What this page does not hold.
Every item below could be filled with a plausible figure. None of them is. On a page a lender may read, a number that cannot be traced is worse than an absence, so the absences are named.
- Parcel level detail, zoning and flood zone at an address are resolved in the platform, not on this page.
SBA figures count approvals to borrowers whose address is in the place. They are not approvals for projects inside the place boundary: the tape records a borrower city and a project county, and those can differ.
Common questions
La Mesa questions, answered from the record.
How many people live in La Mesa, California?
60,797, in 25,038 households. La Mesa city covers 9.09 square miles of land, which is 6,687 people per square mile. Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
What county is La Mesa in?
San Diego County, which holds 100.0 percent of the place by area. Source: US Census Bureau, cartographic boundary file, places, 2024 vintage.
What is the median household income in La Mesa?
$95,028. The median owner-occupied home is valued at $812,000. Median gross rent is $2,049 per month. Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
How much SBA lending goes to La Mesa businesses?
87 7(a) approvals totalling $51.6 m, across 37 lenders, median approval $230,500, plus 28 504 approvals worth $20.5 m. These count approvals to borrowers whose address is in La Mesa, not projects sited inside the place boundary, and they are approvals recorded in the release rather than loans disbursed.
Do SBA loans to La Mesa borrowers get paid back?
Of the 16 loans that have reached a final outcome, 14 were paid in full and 2 charged off, a charge off rate of 12.5 percent. Loans still running are excluded because they have not yet succeeded or failed.
Is La Mesa in the National Flood Insurance Program?
Yes. La Mesa appears in the FEMA Community Status Book as community 060292, with no Community Rating System class, so no CRS discount applies. Whether a specific parcel sits in a mapped special flood hazard area is an address level question the platform answers.
Are the county figures on this page La Mesa figures?
No, and they are labelled so. County Business Patterns, QCEW, the Building Permits Survey, BEA product and IRS migration are published for San Diego County as a whole and there is no place level equivalent. They appear in one clearly marked section as context and are never presented as measurements of La Mesa.
Is zoning published for La Mesa?
Not yet. The zoning layer is in build. Nothing on this page presents parcel level zoning.
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