San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles migration, mapped
In 2022–23, 10,041 people moved into the San Luis Obispo metro and 9,871 moved out, a net of +170. Yellow arcs are people arriving, blue arcs are people leaving. Hover a dot to see the corridor, or click through to compare.
The map couldn’t load. The numbers below still tell the story.
† IRS methodology change in this year’s files (see methodology)
What the flows say
- Biggest published corridors: Santa Maria, CA leads both directions, with 1,471 people in and 1,244 out in 2022–23. The listed corridors cover about 65–75% of all flows; the totals count everyone.
- Trend: net inflow has cooled over the last three years, from +790 in 2020–21 to +170 in 2022–23†.
Population · 2025
282,367
▲ 0.1% year over year · growing
Peak population · 2018
283,250
0.3% below the 2018 peak
Why the population is changing
- Growth driver: domestic migration added more people than anything else: +281 in 2025, ahead of births minus deaths (−164) and international migration (+86).
- Peak population: the high-water mark was 283,250 in 2018. The 2025 estimate of 282,367 is 0.3% below that.
Net income flow · 2022–23
+$163M
▲ $665M arrived · $502M left
Avg household income · movers
$104k in · $77k out
arrivals out-earn leavers by 35%
San Luis Obispo wealth migration
- Money moved: households moving into the San Luis Obispo metro in 2022–23 reported $665M in income (AGI). Households leaving took $502M with them, a net gain of $163M.
- Income gap: the average household moving in reported $104k of income, vs $77k for leavers. Arrivals out-earn leavers by 35%.
About the data
Corridors are IRS county-to-county migration flows added up into metro areas (2023 Census metro definitions; exemptions ≈ people). "Rest of" entries cover a state's counties outside any featured metro. The IRS hides corridors with fewer than 20 returns, so the lists here cover about 75% of inbound and 65% of outbound movers in 2022–23. The in, out, and net totals count everyone. Income figures are the total income (AGI) movers reported, from the complete county totals. Dollars are not adjusted for inflation, and household averages divide by the number of returns. Population figures are Census Bureau estimates; the peak covers records since 2000. Years marked † had a change in how the IRS built the files. Full details on the methodology page.
Download this data (CSV), free to use with attribution.
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