Imperial Beach is a medium-sized coastal city (i.e. on the ocean, a bay, or inlet) located in the state of California. With a population of 25,791 people and seven associated neighborhoods, Imperial Beach is the 279th largest community in California.

Housing costs in Imperial Beach are among some of the highest in the nation, although real estate prices here don't compare to real estate prices in the most expensive communities in California.

There are many members of the armed forces living in Imperial Beach. You will notice when you visit or live here that some of the people you meet or see around town are employed by the armed services - even if they are not always in uniform.

Also of interest is that Imperial Beach has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.

One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 7.77% of the workforce. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce this is high compared to the rest of the county. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.

One of the nice things about Imperial Beach is that it is nautical, which means that parts of it are somewhat historic and touch the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and bays. Because of this, visitors and locals will often go to these areas to take in the scenery or to enjoy waterfront activities.

For the size of the city, public transportation in Imperial Beach is quite heavily used. Mostly, people who use it for their daily commute are taking the bus. For Imperial Beach, the benefits are reduced air pollution and congestion on the highways.

The citizens of Imperial Beach are slightly better educated than the national average of 21.84% for all cities and towns, with 22.53% of adults in Imperial Beach having a bachelor's degree or advanced degree.

The per capita income in Imperial Beach in 2018 was $33,164, which is lower middle income relative to California, and middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $132,656 for a family of four. However, Imperial Beach contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

Imperial Beach is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Imperial Beach home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. People of Hispanic or Latino origin are the most prevalent group in Imperial Beach, accounting for 52.82% of the city’s residents (people of Hispanic or Latino origin can be of any race). The greatest number of Imperial Beach residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. Important ancestries of people in Imperial Beach include Irish, German, English, Italian, and French.

Foreign born people are also an important part of Imperial Beach's cultural character, accounting for 17.29% of the city’s population.

The most common language spoken in Imperial Beach is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Tagalog.