menu
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.

Pacifica, CA
Real Estate & Demographic Data






Pacifica profile


Living in Pacifica



Pacifica 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 36,517 people and eight associated neighborhoods, Pacifica is the 215th largest community in California.

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

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

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

Telecommuters are a relatively large percentage of the workforce: 18.29% of people work from home. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce it is high relative to the nation. 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 Pacifica 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.

One downside of living in Pacifica, however, is that residents on average have to contend with a long commute, spending on average 30.52 minutes every day commuting to work. However, local public transit is widely used. For those who would prefer to avoid driving entirely and leave their car at home, it may be an option to use the transit instead.

Although the majority of commuting trips in the city are by private automobile, Pacifica 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 subway helps to get to and from their jobs every morning, which benefits everyone in the Pacifica area by reducing both traffic and air pollution.

Pacifica is one of the most well-educated cities in the nation. 47.86% of adults in Pacifica 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 Pacifica in 2018 was $66,531, which is wealthy relative to California and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $266,124 for a family of four.

Pacifica is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Pacifica home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Pacifica residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. Pacifica also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 18.26% of the city’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Pacifica include Irish, German, English, Italian, and European.

In addition, Pacifica has a lot of people living here who were born outside of the US (21.90%).

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