Total economy · San Diego County, CA
Total economy
Understanding the businesses at risk from a changing climate is important. This data covers all economic activity occurring in coastal shoreline counties: jobs in banks, grocery stores, local government, and everything in between.
If You Can't Measure It, You Can't Protect It
of all employment in California is in San Diego County.
- Establishments
- 135,234
- Jobs
- 1,535,067
- Wages
- $131.1B
- GDP (excludes Public administration)
- $265.3B
Excludes Public administration.
Diverse Economies are Resilient Economies
An economy comprised of multiple sectors can better handle disruptions, including storms and economic downturns. Understanding how each sector is represented in your coastal county is important, particularly for hazard mitigation planning.
of San Diego County’s workforce works in Education and health services, its largest sector by employment.
Share of the county total, by sector.
Share of the county total, by sector: data table
| Category | Construction | Financial activities | Education and health services | Information | Leisure and hospitality | Manufacturing | Natural resources and mining | Other services | Professional and business services | Public administration | Trade, transportation, and utilities |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Establishments | 9,108 | 11,869 | 48,847 | 1,382 | 10,264 | 3,627 | 648 | 9,179 | 23,724 | 429 | 15,567 |
| Wages | $7.89B | $8.72B | $28.95B | $3.42B | $8.92B | $13.55B | $490.98M | $2.74B | $32.01B | $9.16B | $15.2B |
| Employment | 89,591 | 70,230 | 394,596 | 18,774 | 214,672 | 109,768 | 9,020 | 55,728 | 259,921 | 82,327 | 230,240 |
| GDP (excludes Public administration) | $14.3B | $59.47B | $28.7B | $10.01B | $17.73B | $32.96B | $1.42B | $6.5B | $51.16B | withheld | $43.05B |
Shares exclude withheld sectors.
Excludes Public administration.
Coastal Jobs Are Vulnerable
Many jobs in coastal counties are vulnerable to flooding. This graphic shows the number of jobs threatened by two flood scenarios: current flooding (the 100-year floodplain) and future flooding (six feet of sea level rise).
Potential jobs affected by current flooding
62,247Potential jobs affected by future flooding
25,007Wages
Understanding the economic vulnerability of the workforce helps leaders better understand the long- and short-term impact of coastal storms, economic downturns, etc. In general, the sectors with the lowest average wages are more likely to be affected.
Leisure and hospitality has the lowest average wage per job in San Diego County.
Average wage per job, by sector.
Average wage per job, by sector: data table
| Category | County | Coastal California | Coastal U.S. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Construction | $81,736 | $90,408 | $81,228 |
| Financial activities | $108,052 | $153,898 | $150,835 |
| Education and health services | $70,489 | $71,683 | $67,902 |
| Information | $149,198 | $253,512 | $193,507 |
| Leisure and hospitality | $38,814 | $42,925 | $37,140 |
| Manufacturing | $105,737 | $136,488 | $98,915 |
| Natural resources and mining | $50,252 | $48,079 | $76,365 |
| Other services | $45,852 | $53,772 | $54,194 |
| Professional and business services | $115,554 | $129,224 | $111,600 |
| Public administration | $101,989 | $108,423 | $92,868 |
| Trade, transportation, and utilities | $61,520 | $72,890 | $63,631 |
Coastal U.S. means the shoreline counties of 29 states and the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, not the whole country.
Total Jobs
Many economic reports don't include the self-employed in their job numbers, yet this group can play an important role in the local economy. Most commercial fishermen, for instance, are self-employed.
professional and business services workers in San Diego County are self-employed, more than any other sector.
- Employed workers, 2025
- 1,535,067
- Self-employed workers, 2024
- 309,797
Data, methods and citation
- Snapshot
- 2026-10-22
- Methodology
- Version 1. What changed: https://seachangeatlas.org/county-profiles/about/changelog/#methodology-changelog
- Estimates
- Some figures are estimated with NOAA's Open ENOW method, and some are withheld. How estimates are made: https://seachangeatlas.org/county-profiles/about/economy/#estimated. Why figures are withheld: https://seachangeatlas.org/county-profiles/about/economy/#withheld-reasons
Recommended citation. California Sea Change Atlas. (2026, October 22). San Diego County coastal county profile: Total economy. https://seachangeatlas.org/county-profiles/county/san-diego/2026-10-22/total-economy/
| Source | Period covered | Retrieved |
|---|---|---|
| BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (annual averages) https://www.bls.gov/cew/ | 2025 | 2026-10-22 |
| BEA GDP by state and industry (SAGDP2), California https://www.bea.gov/data/gdp/gdp-industry | 2025 | 2026-10-22 |
| LEHD LODES8 workplace area characteristics https://lehd.ces.census.gov/data/lodes/LODES8/ca/wac/ | 2023 | 2026-10-22 |
| Census 2020 tabulation blocks (TIGERweb) https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/Census2020/Tracts_Blocks/MapServer | 2020 | 2026-10-22 |
| FEMA National Flood Hazard Layer https://www.fema.gov/flood-maps/national-flood-hazard-layer | 2012-05-16 to 2026-03-03 | 2026-10-22 |
| NOAA Sea Level Rise Viewer inundation extents https://coast.noaa.gov/slrdata/ | 2026 | 2026-10-22 |
| BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (annual averages), wages comparison year https://www.bls.gov/cew/ | 2023 | 2026-10-22 |
| NOAA Total Economy (Coastal), shoreline counties of California and of the U.S. https://coast.noaa.gov/digitalcoast/data/coastaleconomy.html | 2023 | 2026-10-22 |
| Census Nonemployer Statistics https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics.html | 2024 | 2026-10-22 |