HomeCaliforniaSan Luis Obispo CountySan Luis Obispo city
San Luis Obispo city, California: commercial real estate data.
San Luis Obispo city is a Census city of 48,491 people across 13.64 square miles of land, in San Luis Obispo County. Median household income is $73,685, 40.3 percent of occupied homes are owned, and the SBA record carries 125 7(a) approvals to borrowers here worth $85.7 m.
83 sourced place values · tier FULL · 9 sections
San Luis Obispo
What San Luis Obispo is
- Census place typecity
- Land area13.64 sq mi
- Water area0.15 sq mi
- Population per square mile of land3,555
- County holding the largest share of its areaSan Luis Obispo 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.
San Luis Obispo
How many people live in San Luis Obispo
- Population48,491
- Median age26.3
- Population under 184,991
- Share under 1810.3 percent
- Population 65 and over7,210
- Share 65 and over14.9 percent
- Households20,441
- Family households8,327
- Share of households that are families40.7 percent
US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
San Luis Obispo
Income and work in San Luis Obispo
- Median household income$73,685
- Per capita income$48,106
- Civilian labor force27,649
- Employed25,720
- Unemployed1,929
- Unemployment rate7.0 percent
- Adults 25 and over25,381
- Adults 25 and over with a high school diploma or higher96.6 percent
- Adults 25 and over with a bachelor degree or higher54.4 percent
- Adults 25 and over with a graduate degree24.1 percent
US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
San Luis Obispo
Housing in San Luis Obispo
- Housing units22,250
- Occupied units20,441
- Vacant units1,809 plus or minus 418
- Vacancy rate8.1 percent plus or minus 1.9
- Owner occupied8,228
- Renter occupied12,213
- Ownership rate40.3 percent
- Median owner-occupied home value$935,100
- Median gross rent, monthly$1,965
- Annual rent as a share of median income32.0 percent
- Single family units12,383
- Share single family55.7 percent
- Units in buildings of two or more8,639
- Share in buildings of two or more38.8 percent
- Mobile homes1,228
- Median year structure built1977
US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
San Luis Obispo
How San Luis Obispo gets to work
- Workers 16 and over who commute20,686
- Commuting under 15 minutes11,337
- Share commuting under 15 minutes54.8 percent
- Commuting 30 minutes or more2,321
- Share commuting 30 minutes or more11.2 percent
- Drove alone63.8 percent
- Carpooled6.8 percent
- Public transport1.0 percent plus or minus 0.6
- Walked6.1 percent plus or minus 1.4
- Worked from home17.1 percent
US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
San Luis Obispo
SBA 7(a) lending to San Luis Obispo borrowers
- Approvals125
- Gross approval$85,687,500
- Average approval$685,500
- Median approval$300,000
- Ninetieth percentile approval$1,758,800
- Largest approval$5,000,000
- Jobs supported2,086
- Jobs per approval16.7
- Loans with a final outcome22
- Paid in full22
- Charged off0
- Charge-off rate over resolved loans0.0 percent
- Median term120 months
- Share on real estate terms of 20 years or more16.8 percent
- Share to franchises7.2 percent
- Distinct lenders42
- Distinct industries by NAICS77
US Small Business Administration, 7(a) FOIA release, FY2020 to FY2026 year to date, as of 2026-06-30.
San Luis Obispo
SBA 504 lending to San Luis Obispo borrowers
- Approvals65
- Gross approval$55,888,000
- Average approval$859,815
- Median approval$548,000
- Largest approval$3,818,000
- Jobs supported761
- Loans with a final outcome20
- Charged off0
- Charge-off rate over resolved loans0.0 percent
- Median term240 months
- Distinct CDCs11
US Small Business Administration, 504 FOIA release, FY2010 to FY2026 year to date, as of 2026-06-30.
San Luis Obispo
Flood programme status in San Luis Obispo
- Listed NFIP communities1
- Of those, participating1
- Best Community Rating System classClass 7
- NFIP community number060310
- Currently effective map date06/06/24
FEMA, National Flood Insurance Program Community Status Book, Community Status Book, as retrieved.
San Luis Obispo County, not San Luis Obispo
San Luis Obispo County context, not San Luis Obispo figures
These are San Luis Obispo County figures. There is no place level equivalent published for any of them, so they are shown as the county backdrop and never as San Luis Obispo measurements.
- Establishments in San Luis Obispo County8,962
- Employment at those establishments, San Luis Obispo County98,720
- Covered employment, San Luis Obispo County121,958
- Average annual pay, San Luis Obispo County$61,334
- Average weekly wage, San Luis Obispo County$1,179
- Housing units permitted, San Luis Obispo County1,104
- Of those, single family, San Luis Obispo County821
- County product, 2024, San Luis Obispo County$24,505,477,000
- County product change over the prior year, San Luis Obispo County6.3 percent
- Average income of an arriving household, San Luis Obispo County$103,982
Every figure in this section is published for San Luis Obispo County as a whole and is not a measurement of San Luis Obispo. 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
San Luis Obispo questions, answered from the record.
How many people live in San Luis Obispo, California?
48,491, in 20,441 households. San Luis Obispo city covers 13.64 square miles of land, which is 3,555 people per square mile. Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
What county is San Luis Obispo in?
San Luis Obispo 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 San Luis Obispo?
$73,685. The median owner-occupied home is valued at $935,100. Median gross rent is $1,965 per month. Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
How much SBA lending goes to San Luis Obispo businesses?
125 7(a) approvals totalling $85.7 m, across 42 lenders, median approval $300,000, plus 65 504 approvals worth $55.9 m. These count approvals to borrowers whose address is in San Luis Obispo, not projects sited inside the place boundary, and they are approvals recorded in the release rather than loans disbursed.
Do SBA loans to San Luis Obispo borrowers get paid back?
Of the 22 loans that have reached a final outcome, 22 were paid in full and 0 charged off, a charge off rate of 0.0 percent. Loans still running are excluded because they have not yet succeeded or failed.
Is San Luis Obispo in the National Flood Insurance Program?
Yes. San Luis Obispo appears in the FEMA Community Status Book as community 060310, carrying Community Rating System class 7, which is a premium discount for exceeding the programme minimum. 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 San Luis Obispo figures?
No, and they are labelled so. County Business Patterns, QCEW, the Building Permits Survey, BEA product and IRS migration are published for San Luis Obispo 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 San Luis Obispo.
Is zoning published for San Luis Obispo?
Not yet. The zoning layer is in build. Nothing on this page presents parcel level zoning.