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.

A relatively large number of people in Imperial Beach telecommute to their jobs. Overall, about 7.77% 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.

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.

Although the majority of commuting trips in the city are by private automobile, Imperial Beach is somewhat unusual for a city of its size for having a substantial number of people who use public transportation. For a lot of people, the bus helps to get to and from their jobs every morning, which benefits everyone in the Imperial Beach area by reducing both traffic and air pollution.

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 2022 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.

Imperial Beach also has a high percentage of its population that was born in another country: 17.29%.

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