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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.

Imperial Beach, CA
Real Estate & Demographic Data






Imperial Beach profile


Living in Imperial Beach



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.

Imperial Beach is home to a number of people employed in the armed forces. When you visit or walk around Imperial Beach, some of the people you will bump into will be military people In and out of uniform, jogging, shopping and generally out and about town.

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.

Imperial Beach is also nautical, which means that parts of it are somewhat historic and touch the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and bays. Such areas are often places that visitors and locals go for waterfront activities or taking in the scenery.

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 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.

In addition, Imperial Beach has a lot of people living here who were born outside of the US (17.29%).

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