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San Diego · CA · 20 community planning areas

San Diego neighborhoods. Find your fit.

Compare official San Diego community planning areas on ACS rent, walk, safety, schools, and commute. Rankings stay inside this city.

Data period. ACS 2024 5-year (2020-2024) · SDPD Oct 2025 – Sep 2026 · OSM Oct 2026. ACS and SDPD retrieved 2026-10-14; OSM retrieved 2026-10-14. Editorial copy last revised Sep 2026.

20 community planning areas

Published walkable weights — same order as the table below. Fit is an in-house score, not a resident review.

83fit
#1

University

$3K ACS median rent

UTC and University City are the searches. UCSD sits in this plan, not in the coast village. The official name is University. Median age is 31.7, so this is not a dorm census. Bachelor's share is 76% and rent is $2,728. Cafes are 51 and bars are 3. Property Part I is 22.3 per 1,000 — the malls and the offices write a lot of that. The park count is canyon and campus pieces, not a shop on every block. Violent is 1.5.

Walk index
100
Safety index
32
Published fit
83

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76fit
#2

Downtown

$2K ACS median rent

The official plan is Downtown. Gaslamp, Little Italy, and East Village are searches inside it, not extra polygons. Violent Part I is 19.6 per 1,000, the highest of the large plans in this set, because the count includes visitors and the night. OSM counts 80 bars in the plan or within 800 meters of its centroid. Rent is $2,441. A yard is not the point.

Walk index
92
Safety index
11
Published fit
76
NightlifePlanned

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67fit
#3

Point Loma

$3K ACS median rent

Point Loma and Liberty Station are searches. The official plan is Peninsula. Sunset Cliffs is the same polygon, not a second one. Home median is $1,451,440. Violent Part I is 2.2 per 1,000 and property is 9.2, a calmer read than the beach grids. The high park count is the point and the shoreline mapped as parks. 46% rent.

Walk index
51
Safety index
89
Published fit
67
Family streetsWaterfront

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58fit
#4

Mira Mesa

$3K ACS median rent

A north-inland plan of 77,845 people. Rent is $2,756. Violent Part I is 1.7 per 1,000 and property is 9.6. Income is $132,721. It is houses and errands, not a beach night. The coast is a drive.

Walk index
40
Safety index
95
Published fit
58
Family streets

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50fit
#5

Clairemont

$2K ACS median rent

The official plan is Clairemont Mesa. 78,255 people, houses and canyons, 42% renters. Rent is $2,312. Violent Part I is 2.1 per 1,000. It is a drive to the water and a shorter hop to the valley offices.

Walk index
28
Safety index
79
Published fit
50
Family streets

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47fit
#6

City Heights

$2K ACS median rent

The official plan is Mid-City: City Heights. 76,398 people, the largest central plan in this set. Income is $65,086 and rent is $1,773. Bachelor's share is 23%, the lowest here. Violent Part I is 5.9 per 1,000 and property is 8.4 — a rate for a wide plan, not a verdict on one block.

Walk index
20
Safety index
84
Published fit
47

Explore neighborhood

43fit
#7

North Park

$2K ACS median rent

30th Street is the search. The official plan is North Park. Cafes and houses on the same grid. Rent is $2,034. Violent Part I is 3.2 per 1,000, calmer than the plan to the west. Median age is 35.8.

Walk index
21
Safety index
53
Published fit
43
Nightlife

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43fit
#8

Carmel Valley

$3K ACS median rent

Highest income in this set, $199,791, and the highest rent, $3,374. Violent Part I is 0.4 per 1,000, the lowest here. Property is 5.7, also the lowest. Bachelor's share is 83%. OSM transit stops in or near the plan: 4. Houses and a drive. This is not the coast village.

Walk index
13
Safety index
100
Published fit
43
Family streets

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42fit
#9

College Area

$2K ACS median rent

SDSU is the search. The official plan is College Area. Median age is 25.4, the youngest in this set. Rent is $2,089. Violent Part I is 4.3 per 1,000. School ratings are not in this snapshot — the age is the tell, not a campus assignment.

Walk index
13
Safety index
74
Published fit
42

Explore neighborhood

41fit
#10

Mission Valley

$3K ACS median rent

Fashion Valley and the stadium are searches inside Mission Valley. Rent is $2,831 and the home median is $631,490 — more condo than house. Property Part I is 77.0 per 1,000, second only to the beach spit, because the malls and the hotels are in the count. Violent is 11.0. Not a score for every new building.

Walk index
34
Safety index
5
Published fit
41
Planned

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40fit
#11

Uptown

$2K ACS median rent

Hillcrest, Mission Hills, and Bankers Hill are searches inside one plan. The official name is Uptown. Hillcrest is the night; the west side is houses. Median age is 42.2 and the home median is $1,135,056. Violent Part I is 5.7 per 1,000. Property is 19.9.

Walk index
22
Safety index
26
Published fit
40
Nightlife

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38fit
#12

La Jolla

$3K ACS median rent

Prospect and the coves. Oldest median age in this set, 52.2, and only 29% of households rent. The home median is $1,908,428. Violent Part I is 1.6 per 1,000. Property is 16.9, which is the shops as much as the side streets. The inland campus is a different plan.

Walk index
13
Safety index
58
Published fit
38
Family streetsWaterfront

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38fit
#13

Pacific Beach

$2K ACS median rent

Garnet Avenue is the search. The official plan is Pacific Beach. Rent is $2,427 and the home median is $1,372,211. Violent Part I is 4.5 per 1,000. Property is 18.2. Garnet is the night. The bay side of the same plan is quieter.

Walk index
13
Safety index
42
Published fit
38
NightlifeWaterfront

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37fit
#14

Golden Hill

$2K ACS median rent

South Park is a search inside Greater Golden Hill, not its own polygon. Rent is $1,980. Violent Part I is 2.7 per 1,000, one of the calmer central reads. The park is the lawn. The houses are the rest.

Walk index
3
Safety index
68
Published fit
37

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35fit
#15

Normal Heights

$2K ACS median rent

Adams Avenue is the search. The official plan is Mid-City: Normal Heights. Rent is $1,888, one of the lower central medians, and the home median is $778,085. Violent Part I is 4.6 per 1,000. A small grid, not a campus.

Walk index
2
Safety index
63
Published fit
35

Explore neighborhood

34fit
#16

Linda Vista

$2K ACS median rent

USD is a search on the west side of this plan. The official name is Linda Vista. Home median is $717,082. Property Part I is 25.7 per 1,000, high for a plan that is mostly houses — the commercial edge is inside the same line. Violent is 4.5.

Walk index
13
Safety index
21
Published fit
34

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33fit
#17

Ocean Beach

$2K ACS median rent

Newport Avenue and the pier. The official plan is Ocean Beach. 80% of households rent. Rent is $2,266. Violent Part I is 7.1 per 1,000, higher than the beach plan to the north, and property is 16.4. A small grid with a loud end.

Walk index
5
Safety index
37
Published fit
33
NightlifeWaterfront

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32fit
#18

Kensington

$2K ACS median rent

Talmadge is the other name on the same line. The official plan is Mid-City: Kensington-Talmadge. Houses and a canyon, not a strip. The home median is $1,265,367. Rent is $2,002. Violent Part I is 5.1 per 1,000.

Walk index
0
Safety index
47
Published fit
32
Family streets

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30fit
#19

Barrio Logan

$1K ACS median rent

Lowest rent in this set, $1,405, and the lowest income, $60,750. Two tracts, 6,492 people, 85% renters. Median age is 26.1. Violent Part I is 13.9 per 1,000. That is the plan's count, not a personality for every block. The galleries are why people search it.

Walk index
5
Safety index
16
Published fit
30

Explore neighborhood

23fit
#20

Mission Beach

$3K ACS median rent

One census tract and 1,774 residents. Belmont Park and the boardwalk sit on that small base, so violent Part I is 33.8 per 1,000 and property is 86.2 — the highest rates in this set, and not a score for every cottage. The ACS home figure is $2,000,001, the survey's top code, so it means at least $2 million rather than an exact price. Rent is $2,767.

Walk index
0
Safety index
0
Published fit
23
NightlifeWaterfront

Explore neighborhood

Schematic map

Schematic community-plan map — the Pacific on the west, downtown toward the bay. Click a block to open it. Distances on this drawing are not street geography. Adjacent blocks are not a claim that two community planning areas share a border.

DowntownUptownN. ParkGolden H.Normal H.KensingtonCity HtsCollegeLa JollaPac. BeachMsn BeachOcean B.Pt LomaClairemontLinda V.Msn ValleyMira MesaCarmel V.Barrio L.UTCPacific
Lower fitHigher fit

Rent since 2014

ACS 5-year median gross rent for San Diego city. Up 70% since 2014.

$1.3k201420162018202020222024

Overlapping 5-year ACS windows (B25064), not asking rent. Figures are for the city place, household-weighted across all occupied rental units.

Choosing a neighborhood in San Diego

San Diego ranks community planning areas — the city’s official named geography, kept by Planning — and this site shows a relocator subset of 20, not every plan. Military land, Balboa Park, and the far-south plans are left off. The Pacific sits on the west of the sketch.

Hillcrest, Gaslamp, Little Italy, Point Loma, and UTC are search names inside those plans. Hillcrest lands on Uptown. Gaslamp and Little Italy land on Downtown. UCSD and UTC land on University, not La Jolla. SDSU lands on College Area. School ratings are not in this snapshot, so that axis does not separate the list. Park counts on the large plans include canyon and shoreline pieces in OpenStreetMap. The map is schematic.

San Diego neighborhoods at a glance

Not a best-of list. Four cuts of the same 20 official community planning areas.

Walks more

Groceries, transit, parks

Full cut

School-heavy

Nearby rating + calmer map

Full cut

Lower ACS rent

Survey median, not a listing

Full cut

Lower Part I rate

Fewer reports per 1,000 in this city set

20 official community planning areas

Published fit uses default walkable weights and a $2,500 ACS rent budget. Same order for every reader. Fit is a number inside San Diego only.

All 20 official San Diego community planning areas with ACS median gross rent, in-house walk index, and Part I safety index. Each name links to its neighborhood page.
#NeighborhoodPublished fitACS median rentWalk indexSafety index
1University83$2,72810032
2Downtown76$2,4419211
3Point Loma67$2,5215189
4Mira Mesa58$2,7564095
5Clairemont50$2,3122879
6City Heights47$1,7732084
7North Park43$2,0342153
8Carmel Valley43$3,37413100
9College Area42$2,0891374
10Mission Valley41$2,831345
11Uptown40$2,1172226
12La Jolla38$3,0291358
13Pacific Beach38$2,4271342
14Golden Hill37$1,980368
15Normal Heights35$1,888263
16Linda Vista34$2,2671321
17Ocean Beach33$2,266537
18Kensington32$2,002047
19Barrio Logan30$1,405516
20Mission Beach23$2,76700

ACS median gross rent mixes every occupied rental. Walk is an in-house OSM count, not Walk Score. Safety ranks Part I rates inside San Diego only.

Understanding rent and neighborhood scores

Rent figures are ACS 5-year median gross rent (2020-2024, ACS 2024 5-year) mixed across unit sizes in the City of San Diego. Barrio Logan is the lowest median in this set at $1,405. That is a survey median, not this week’s asking rent for a one-bedroom.

Walk is an in-house index from OpenStreetMap groceries, cafes, parks, and transit stops inside the official polygon or within 800 meters of its centroid. It is not a Walk Score® license.

Safety ranks SDPD Part I rates (Oct 2025 – Sep 2026) inside this San Diego set only. A lower index means fewer Part I reports per 1,000 ACS residents relative to the other community planning areas here — not a guarantee that a block is safe, and not a measurement of noise.

A nearby school rating is not an assigned campus. Missing ratings sit at the middle of the scale.

Commute minutes are typical weekday estimates to named job centers, not live traffic.

Boundaries are City of San Diego community planning districts (Planning, Community_Plan_SD, updated Feb 27, 2026). Crime counts are SDPD NIBRS Crime Offenses 2025–2026 (seshat.datasd.org; portal updated Oct 13, 2026). Offenses with violent_crime=1 or property_crime=1, the department's FBI violent and property flags (Part I: homicide, rape 11A–C, robbery, aggravated assault; burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft). Arson is not flagged. Points are block geocodes assigned to community planning areas, not police beats..

ACS and SDPD were retrieved 2026-10-14. OSM was retrieved 2026-10-14. Editorial pages on this site were last revised Sep 2026.

Sources: U.S. Census American Community Survey, OpenStreetMap, and this city’s police open data via the method page. NabeWise is published by NabeWise Media.

Frequently asked questions

How the San Diego number is built — not a grade of the place.

How do San Diego neighborhoods differ?

San Diego ranks community planning areas — the city’s official named geography, kept by Planning — and this site shows a relocator subset of 20, not every plan. Military land, Balboa Park, and the far-south plans are left off. The Pacific sits on the west of the sketch.

Which San Diego areas have lower median rents?

Barrio Logan has the lowest ACS 5-year median gross rent in this set at $1,405 (2020-2024 survey). A median mixes every occupied rental. It is not this week’s one-bedroom.

What does the walkability index measure?

Mapped groceries, cafes, parks, and transit stops inside the official community planning area or within 800 meters of its centroid. University currently leads the default walkable ranking. It is not a Walk Score® license.

How are San Diego neighborhood boundaries defined?

Official community planning areas only — 20 on this map. Hillcrest, Gaslamp, Little Italy, Point Loma, and UTC are aliases on official community planning areas, not extra polygons. The schematic map is for clicking, not for measuring a shared border.

How often is the information updated?

Housing is ACS 2024 5-year (2020-2024). Crime is SDPD Part I for Oct 2025 – Sep 2026. OSM amenities were snapshotted 2026-10-14. Editorial copy on these pages was last revised Sep 2026.

Can I compare a San Diego score to another city?

No. A number here is a rank inside these 20 official community planning areas, not a grade you can carry to another city.

How does NabeWise rank San Diego neighborhoods?

Six axes — safety, schools, walk, cost, vibe, and optional commute — scaled only inside San Diego, then weighted. With default walkable weights and a $2,500 ACS rent budget, University is the current top match (83 published fit). Rankings never jump a city line. The formula is on the method page.

Full formula on the method page.