AreaProfile

92117San Diego, California

Area Profile

Income, jobs, climate, physical risk and development data for ZIP code 92117.

53
Area Score
Bottom 16% of 3,833 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
OpportunityTop 30% of 4,073 published ZIP areas64
GrowthTop 42% of 3,947 published ZIP areas55
Housing affordability4296th of 4,553 published ZIP areas36
ClimateTop 6% of 4,621 published ZIP areas100
Physical resilience4360th of 4,554 published ZIP areas8
Access4427th of 4,623 published ZIP areas54
Economic stabilityTop 38% of 4,591 published ZIP areas66
The quick read

Housing costs more relative to local incomes than in most published city profiles, with rent taking 26% of median household income.

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

Its Area Score of 53 places 92117 in the top 84% of published ZIP profiles.

At a glance

Population
52,275
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$103,661
Top 17% nationally
Density
6,007/sq mi
8.7 sq mi of land
Median age
39.5
2024 ACS 5-Year
City
San Diego
California
Metro area
San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA
Nearest major airport
PSP
80 mi · Palm Springs Intl
Median home value
$981,200
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.3% is lower than 59% of the 4,387 measured US ZIP areas.

Employment fell 1.1% over the past year, to 707,210 employed residents.

52% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 89% of measured US ZIP areas.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$9,614$103,661Top 17%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$3,555$57,288Top 13%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate10.4%Bottom 49%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute22.0 minBottom 20%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher51.5%Top 11%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment707,210Top 7%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)0.2%Top 48%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-1.1%Bottom 45%June 2026
Labor force738,799Top 7%June 2026
Labor force participation66.2%Top 28%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$79,060Top 14%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$58,690Top 20%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)-0.3%Bottom 32%June 2026
Unemployment rate4.3%Bottom 41%June 2026
Median household income, successive ACS releases
2021202220232024105k98k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $103,661 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.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish labor-force data for ZIP areas. This is the figure for San Diego, CA, the city containing this ZIP code.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $2,254 takes 26% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 9.5 times median household income here, well above the historic benchmark, at a level conventionally described as seriously unaffordable.

Rent as a share of income
26.1%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
9.5×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$2,254
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$981,200
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income9.47Top 2%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate56.5%Bottom 13%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±84521,789Top 2%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$77$2,254Top 5%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$27,759$981,200Top 3%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income26.1%Top 12%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate4.2%Bottom 18%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
55/ 100
Top 42% of 3,947 published city profiles

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.

68% 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 4.3 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US ZIP areas.

Units permitted
6,010
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
4.3
Top 38% nationally
Year over year
−14%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
67.7%
units in 5+ unit buildings

The Building Permits Survey is not published for ZIP areas. This is the figure for San Diego, CA, the city containing this ZIP code.

Weather & climate

12 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 80°F and January a low of 46°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 11.0 inches.

30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station SAN DIEGO MONTGOMERY FLD, 3.6 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND2.6"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation11.0"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low46°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high80°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

8 / 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. ZIP values are the land-area-weighted mean of the counties the ZIP Code Tabulation Area intersects. Expected annual loss is not allocated below county level. 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

5 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 80 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Palm Springs IntlPSP80 mi10,000 ft
Jacqueline Cochran RgnlTRM82 mi8,500 ft
San Bernardino IntlSBD88 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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Area Score
53
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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.

92117 vs San Diego

How this ZIP area compares with San Diego as a whole. Both figures come from the same ACS release, so the comparison is like for like.

92117
San Diego
Median household income
$103,661
vs
$108,077
Per capita income
$57,288
vs
$57,083
Population density
6,007/sq mi
vs
4,261/sq mi
Median home value
$981,200
vs
$906,700
Median gross rent
$2,254
vs
$2,313
Homeownership rate
56.5%
vs
47.3%
Bachelor's degree or higher
51.5%
vs
51.0%
Poverty rate
10.4%
vs
11.0%
Median age
39.5
vs
36.2

Some demographic statistics use Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, which approximate but do not exactly match USPS ZIP delivery geography. See the methodology for how AreaProfile maps between them.