CA · San Diego County · 1,386,932 (2020) · 8th-largest US city · Pacific time
San Diego, California
San Diego is on the Pacific coast in the far southwest corner of California, with the Mexican border along its southern edge. It is the second-largest city in California and the eighth-largest in the United States.
- State
- California
- County
- San Diego County
- Population (2020)
- 1,386,932
- Rank
- 8th in the US
- Coordinates
- 32.72°N, 117.16°W
- Time zone
- Pacific
- Metro area
- about 3.3 million
- State capital
- No – Sacramento
Where San Diego is
San Diego is at 32.72°N, 117.16°W in San Diego County, of which it is the county seat. It is the southernmost large city in California: the city limits touch the international border at San Ysidro, opposite Tijuana, Mexico. The city covers 372 square miles of coastal mesas, canyons and bays; downtown is about 60 feet above sea level, while Cowles Mountain, the highest point within the city, reaches 1,591 feet. Los Angeles is 120 miles northwest along Interstate 5, and the state capital, Sacramento, is about 500 miles north.
Population and rank
The 2020 Census counted 1,386,932 residents, making San Diego the 8th-largest city in the US and the second-largest in California after Los Angeles. The San Diego–Chula Vista–Carlsbad metropolitan area is the same as San Diego County and holds about 3.3 million people, the 17th-largest metro in the country. Together with Tijuana across the border the urban region exceeds five million, one of the largest binational conurbations in the world. About 42 percent of the county's population lives in the city itself.
Geography
- San Diego Bay — a natural deep-water harbor 12 miles long sheltered by Point Loma and the Coronado peninsula; home to the largest naval base on the West Coast.
- Coast — about 70 miles of shoreline in the county, from the border to Oceanside, with the cliffs of Torrey Pines and La Jolla inside the city. See US coastlines.
- Mesas and canyons — the city is built on marine terraces cut by steep canyons; Mission Valley, carved by the San Diego River, separates the downtown mesa from the northern neighbourhoods.
- Mountains and desert — the Laguna and Cuyamaca mountains rise to over 6,000 feet 40 miles east, and the Anza-Borrego section of the Sonoran Desert lies beyond them.
Nearest large cities
Los Angeles is the only large city within two hours; the rest of the coast and the desert cities are longer drives. Distances are approximate road miles from downtown.
| City | State | Road distance (mi) | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | CA | 120 | NW |
| Phoenix | AZ | 355 | E |
| Las Vegas | NV | 330 | NE |
| Mesa | AZ | 370 | E |
| Tucson | AZ | 410 | E |
Is San Diego the state capital?
No. California's capital is Sacramento, about 500 miles north. San Diego was the site of the first Spanish mission and presidio in California (1769) but has never been the capital of the state. It is the seat of San Diego County and the second-largest city in the state after Los Angeles, ahead of San Jose by about 370,000.
Related maps
- California map — the state with its 58 counties.
- Sacramento — the state capital.
- US cities map.
- US coastlines and Sonoran Desert maps.
- Nearby cities: Los Angeles, Phoenix, Las Vegas.
- Pacific division · Pacific Time Zone.