AreaProfile

Chula Vista, California

Area Profile

276,375 residents. Jobs, income, climate, physical risk, development and airport access for Chula Vista, in San Diego County.

52
Area Score
Bottom 12% of 133 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
OpportunityTop 46% of 139 published cities58
GrowthTop 44% of 134 published cities56
Housing affordability127th of 150 published cities51
ClimateTop 5% of 149 published cities100
Physical resilience143rd of 150 published cities9
Access149th of 149 published cities47
Economic stabilityTop 14% of 150 published cities66
The quick read

Housing costs more relative to local incomes than in most published city profiles, with rent taking 25% of median household income.

Physical-risk exposure is above the national median, driven mainly by inland flooding, wildfire and earthquake.

Its Area Score of 52 places Chula Vista in the top 88% of published city profiles.

At a glance

Population
276,375
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$108,032
Top 15% nationally
Density
5,568/sq mi
49.6 sq mi of land
Median age
37.1
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
San Diego County
California
Metro area
San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA
Nearest major airport
TRM
85 mi · Jacqueline Cochran Rgnl
Median home value
$758,700
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.8% is lower than 40% of the 140 measured US cities.

Employment fell 1.1% over the past year, to 127,137 employed residents.

33% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 74% of measured US cities.

Household income is higher than at least 85% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$2,863$108,032Top 15%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,118$41,343Top 30%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate8.7%Bottom 41%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute30.7 minTop 31%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher33.2%Top 26%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment127,137Bottom 39%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)0.3%Top 47%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-1.1%Bottom 48%June 2026
Labor force133,544Bottom 39%June 2026
Labor force participation66.2%Top 30%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$79,060Top 11%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$58,690Top 16%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)-0.3%Bottom 34%June 2026
Unemployment rate4.8%Top 40%June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032026/012026/068.23.3
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.8% in June 2026.
Median household income, successive ACS releases
2021202220232024108k93k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $108,032 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.
Largest occupations — San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Home Health and Personal Care Aides57,080$35,300
Fast Food and Counter Workers42,550$42,190
Retail Salespersons34,390$37,810
Cashiers30,420$37,020
Registered Nurses28,680$139,520
Office Clerks, General28,470$49,920

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $2,229 takes 25% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 7.0 times median household income here, well above the historic benchmark, at a level conventionally described as seriously unaffordable.

Rent as a share of income
24.8%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
7.0×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$2,229
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$758,700
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income7.02Top 5%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate59.8%Bottom 20%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±1,26890,273Top 1%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$42$2,229Top 6%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$14,842$758,700Top 5%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income24.8%Top 18%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate5.1%Bottom 29%2024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →
Development Momentum
56/ 100
Top 44% of 134 published city profiles
Permitting is decreasing, measured from 2020 to 2025.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has grown 1% since 2020, reaching 278,546 in 2024.

Permitting has turned downward after moving the other way the year before.

77% of recently permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes, so new supply is concentrated in apartments and condominiums rather than detached houses.

At 3.4 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
941
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
3.4
Bottom 45% nationally
Year over year
+27%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
77.3%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
20202021202220232024279k276k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population.
Housing units permitted per year
2020202120222023202420252k536
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2020 (−51%).

Weather & climate

12 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 78°F and January a low of 44°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 10.2 inches.

30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station SAN DIEGO BROWN FLD, 4.4 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND2.4"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation10.2"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low44°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high78°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months121991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing17°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today.

Physical risk

9 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, wildfire and earthquake.

WildfireHigh
Inland floodingModerate
EarthquakeHigh
Heat waveModerate
AvalancheModerate

Low or minimal exposure: landslide, lightning, hail, coastal flooding, tornado, drought, tsunami, strong wind, winter weather, volcanic activity, hurricane, cold wave.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

Taxes

AreaProfile does not yet publish tax comparisons. No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, methodology transparency and update cadence, and the product rule is to omit a dimension rather than estimate it. The Area Score is calculated without a tax component and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Nothing on AreaProfile is individualized tax advice.

Access

2 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 85 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Jacqueline Cochran RgnlTRM85 mi8,500 ft
Palm Springs IntlPSP88 mi10,000 ft
San Bernardino IntlSBD102 mi10,000 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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52
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)

Profile recalculated August 29, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology or browse every source.

ZIP codes in Chula Vista

5 published ZIP profiles
ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeArea Score
9191185,542$82,35047
9191077,123$90,22249
9191357,721$129,33753
9191535,322$139,50355
9191416,877$190,78656