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Data on this report is based on areas within the legal city boundary, outlined in black on the map. Any additional neighborhoods shown on the map are associated with the city by name and are included for reference only.

Costa Mesa, CA
Real Estate & Demographic Data






Costa Mesa profile


Living in Costa Mesa



Costa Mesa is a larger medium-sized city located in the state of California. With a population of 109,521 people and 25 constituent neighborhoods, Costa Mesa is the 58th largest community in California.

Costa Mesa home prices are not only among the most expensive in California, but Costa Mesa real estate also consistently ranks among the most expensive in America.

Of important note, Costa Mesa is also a city of artists. Costa Mesa has more artists, designers and people working in media than 90% of the communities in America. This concentration of artists helps shape Costa Mesa’s character.

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

A relatively large number of people in Costa Mesa telecommute to their jobs. Overall, about 14.32% of the workforce works from home. While this may seem like a small number, as a fraction of the total workforce it ranks among the highest in the country. 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.

Another interesting thing about Costa Mesa, despite not being a huge city, is that there is a relatively high proportion of people living here who are young, single, and upwardly-mobile professionals. This makes it a good choice for other relocating single professionals. Here, these young singles will find many others like themselves, with opportunities for friendships, socializing, romance, and fun.

Costa Mesa is one of the most well-educated cities in the nation. 42.17% of adults in Costa Mesa have at least a bachelor's degree. Compare that to the average community in America, which has just 21.84% with a bachelor's degree or higher.

The per capita income in Costa Mesa in 2018 was $47,636, which is upper middle income relative to California, and wealthy relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $190,544 for a family of four. However, Costa Mesa contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

Costa Mesa is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Costa Mesa home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Costa Mesa residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. Costa Mesa also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 35.92% of the city’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Costa Mesa include German, Irish, English, Italian, and European.

Costa Mesa also has a high percentage of its population that was born in another country: 23.76%.

The most common language spoken in Costa Mesa is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Vietnamese.