San Diego

Ever Wonder Where All These San Diego Millennials Come From? So Did the Census Bureau

According to numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau, 70% of young adults who grew up in America's Finest City stayed home in San Diego as young adults. But what about that other 30%?

A woman doing a flip into the air off of a cement wall onto the sand of the beach while working out in the spring in the city of San Diego, California
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You've seen them at the beach, on campus, in the Gaslamp. Where do they all come from? New census data shows the places those millennials are migrating to San Diego from.

According to numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau, 70% of young adults who grew up in America's Finest City stayed home in San Diego as young adults. The numbers reflect where people from 16-26 moved.

So what about that other 30%? Where did they go? By far, the most populous destination was our neighbors to the north, Los Angeles, where 7.1% of San Diego's diaspora settled. The City by the Bay also was an attraction: 2.0% of San Diego's moved north to San Francisco.

In descending order, the exit routes were headed to:

  • Phoenix: 1.2% (really? Phoenix?)
  • Seattle: 1.0%
  • Las Vegas: 0.9%
  • New York: 0.86%
  • San Jose: 0.61%
  • Sacramento: 0.56%
  • Portland, Ore.: 0.54%
  • Washington, D.C.: 0.51%
  • Denver: 0.5%
  • Chicago: 0.36%
  • Dallas: 0.34%
  • Houston: 0.34%
  • Salt Lake City: 0.34%
  • Austin, Texas: 0.28%
  • Boston: 0.28%
  • Tuscon: 0.28%
  • Atlanta: 0.25%
  • Provo, Utah: 0.21%
  • San Antonio: 0.20%
  • Colorado Springs: 0.20%
  • Fort Worth: 0.20%
  • Eugene, Ore.: 0.18%

We're not gonna talk about Florida. We're just not.

How about in the reverse? Where did newly minted San Diegans who knew a good thing when they saw it flock from.

Again, L.A. tops the list: 9.2% of millennials who moved south to San Diego flew away from the City of Angels. San Jose and San Francisco combined for 2.37% of young adults moving to Slam Diego. Take that, Giants!

The other major movers:

  • Chicago: 0.87%
  • Phoenix: 0.87%
  • Seattle: 0.79%
  • New York: 0.66%
  • Washington, D.C.: 0.65%
  • Boston: 0.60% (at 2,535 miles away, winner of the Long Distance Award)
  • Philadephia: 0.55%
  • Las Vegas: 0.52%
  • Detroit: 0.5%
  • Houston: 0.47%
  • Denver: 0.44%
  • Atlanta: 0.35%
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