San Diego/Compare
North Park vs Uptown
North Park and Uptown are two official community planning areas in San Diego. North Park is the calmer Part I map (53 vs 26). Walk is a wash (21 vs 22). North Park has the lower ACS median ($2,034).
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.
Scores
Fit axes among official San Diego community planning areas.
| Axis | North Park | Uptown |
|---|---|---|
| Safety | 53 | 26 |
| Schools | 50 | 50 |
| Walk | 21 | 22 |
| Cost fit | 100 | 100 |
| Vibe | 13 | 13 |
| Median rent | $2,034 | $2,117 |
| Median home | $922,235 | $1,135,056 |
| Population | 47,597 | 41,741 |
| Commute to Downtown | 12 min | 10 min |
| Commute to UTC | 24 min | 26 min |
| Commute to Mission Valley | 10 min | 12 min |
Living numbers
Who rents, how old, how much crime, how many shops — beside the scores.
| Fact | North Park | Uptown |
|---|---|---|
| Renters | 72% | 66% |
| Median age | 35.8 | 42.2 |
| Median income | $101K | $109K |
| Part I per 1k | 19.7 | 25.6 |
| Groceries / 800m | 24 | 17 |
| Transit stops / 800m | 93 | 118 |
| Parks / 800m | 15 | 22 |
| 311 last 14 days | — | — |
Rent
Rent since 2014
ACS 5-year median gross rent for San Diego city. Up 70% since 2014. N. Park is 12% below the 2024 city median. Uptown is 8% below the 2024 city median.
Overlapping 5-year ACS windows (B25064), not asking rent. Census does not publish a rent series for each official neighborhood, so the line is the city place. Dashed marks are each area’s ACS 2024 median.
Which to pick
The same numbers as the table, in sentences. Nobody wins the city.
Pick North Park if the quieter map matters more than the scene and you want the cafes and the night. Safety is 53 vs 26. Vibe is 13 vs 13. ACS median rent is $2,034 vs $2,117. Read both pages before you decide.
Pick Uptown if you already want this pocket more than the table. North Park leads the numbered axes on this page.
North Park
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.
$2,034 median rent · safety 53 · walk 21
Uptown
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.
$2,117 median rent · safety 26 · walk 22
Common questions
Same pair, said in questions. The numbers are in the tables.
Which is cheaper, North Park or Uptown?
North Park is the lower ACS median: $2,034 vs $2,117. About 72% rent in North Park vs 66% in Uptown. Survey medians, not a listing you can message tonight.
Is North Park more walkable than Uptown?
Walk is basically a tie (21 vs 22). Count groceries if you care: 24 in North Park vs 17 in Uptown, inside 800 meters.
Which is safer on this map, North Park or Uptown?
North Park is the calmer Part I read (53 vs 26). Combined rate 19.7 vs 25.6 per 1,000. Visitors count in those numbers.
Which scores higher for families, North Park or Uptown?
North Park leads the school axis (50 vs 50). Nearby rating is thin vs thin. Median age 35.8 vs 42.2. Uptown has more of the night. Neither number is a school assignment.
Which has the shorter commute to Downtown?
12 minutes from North Park to Downtown, 10 from Uptown. Uptown is the shorter weekday. Not this hour's traffic.
If you drop both
Closest official community planning area that is not North Park or Uptown: Downtown. 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.
Scores are relative among official San Diego community planning areas with the same editorial weights. Read the method.