rocky neptun | 04.11.2005 19:21

San Diego Housing and Homeless Facts and Figures

There are 2,000 evictions a month in San Diego because of escalating rent costs. (1)

The average apartment rent in San Diego is $1,210 - a nearly 100 percent increase from 1990 (when average rents were $643). (2)

Nearly 50 senior citizens a month join the homeless on city streets because their incomes do not keep pace with rent increases. (3)

In San Diego County, 20 percent of every renter household spends at least 50 percent of its income on housing; while 172,000 employees (13 percent of the workforce) earn less than $8.35 an hour. (4)

San Diego County’s high housing prices, coupled with its relatively low wages, make it the second least affordable area in the county. (5)

In San Diego, 29 percent of residents are considering moving because of the cost of housing. (6)

In the City of San Diego, 28,000 families are on a waiting list for Federal HUD Section 8 housing vouchers. Another 11,000 are on a waiting list for local Housing Commission emergency rental assistance. This city program each year runs out of funds during the first 7 weeks of the fiscal year. (7)

The San Diego region maintains 2,019 shelter beds for an estimated population of over 8,000. (8)

The 2006 San Diego City budget calls for a mere 400 transitional housing beds. (9)

The metropolitan area of San Diego, including the county, spends, on average $4,500 for every homeless person (over $70 million dollars in taxpayers money, not to mention private donations to charities). 10
Last year, illegal lodging citations increased 21 percent to almost 2,000, up from the 1,477 tickets for 2003. This year, so far, 2,500 illegal lodging tickets have been issued. (11)

22 percent of homeless are veterans. (12)

The average age of a homeless person in the United States is 9 years old. (13)

As many as 25-40 percent of homeless people work full-time or part-time, but cannot afford to pay rent. (14)


1.San Diego Renters Union, 2003. 2. San Diego Union-Tribune (U-T) 8/27/04.
Paul Downey, director, Seniors Community Centers, in an address to the City Council on Housing Day, 2003. 4. SANDAG Report, 2005. 5. National Association of Homebuilders, 1/7/05. 6. U-T, 11/18/04. 7. San Diego Housing Commission Report, 2004. 8. San Diego Regional Task Force on the Homeless Report, 2004. 9. Preliminary Budget Report, 2006, City Manager’s Office. 10.U.T. 6/17/03. 11. Preliminary Police Report, 2005. 12. US Conference of Mayor’s Report on Hunger and Homelessness, l998. 13. Homes for the Homeless, New York. 14. National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, 1999.