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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.

South Lake Tahoe, CA
Real Estate & Demographic Data






South Lake Tahoe profile


Living in South Lake Tahoe



South Lake Tahoe is a medium-sized city located in the state of California. With a population of 21,175 people and 13 associated neighborhoods, South Lake Tahoe is the 308th largest community in California.

Housing costs in South Lake Tahoe 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.

One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 11.91% 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.

Another notable thing is that South Lake Tahoe is a major vacation destination. Much of the city’s population is seasonal: many people own second homes and only live there part-time, during the vacation season. The effect on the local economy is that many of the businesses are dependent on tourist dollars, and may operate only during the high season. As the vacation season ends, South Lake Tahoe’s population drops significantly, such that year-round residents will notice that the city is a much quieter place to live.

One of the benefits of South Lake Tahoe is that there is very little traffic. The average commute to work is 16.08 minutes, which is substantially less than the national average. Not only does this mean that the drive to work is less aggravating, but noise and pollution levels are lower as a result.

In terms of college education, South Lake Tahoe is substantially better educated than the typical community in the nation, which has 21.84% of the adults holding a bachelor's degree or graduate degree: 30.31% of adults in South Lake Tahoe have a college degree.

The per capita income in South Lake Tahoe in 2018 was $46,093, which is upper middle income relative to California, and wealthy relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $184,372 for a family of four. However, South Lake Tahoe contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

South Lake Tahoe is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call South Lake Tahoe home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of South Lake Tahoe residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. South Lake Tahoe also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 28.53% of the city’s residents. Important ancestries of people in South Lake Tahoe include German, Irish, English, Italian, and European.

In addition, South Lake Tahoe has a lot of people living here who were born outside of the US (21.37%).

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