- The San Diego region has more than 131,000 electric vehicles on the road supported by 6,529 public charging stations (Cleantech San Diego, 2023)
- San Diego companies investing in energy storage projects totaling 1,452MW in SDG&E territory (Cleantech San Diego, 2023)
- San Diego is home to 9,744 jobs in the solar industry (Cleantech San Diego, 2023)
- The San Diego region ranks second in the nation for solar installations (Cleantech San Diego, 2023)
- San Diego is the greenest city in the U.S. (Wallethub, 2023)
- San Diego’s cleantech sector supports more than 41,000 jobs and has an economic impact of $9.9 billion (Cleantech San Diego, 2023)
- San Diego International Airport runs on 100 percent carbon free renewable electricity (SAN, 2022)
- Illumina among first in the world to receive approval of net-zero GHG emissions target (Illumina, 2022)
- SDG&E makes “World Changing Ideas” list for emissions reduction tool (Fast Company, 2022)
- Low carbon economy is a $3 billion industry, generated 10,000+ jobs in recent years
- San Diego region ranks ninth as a U.S. Cleantech Innovation Hub (Cleantech San Diego, 2021)
- San Diego became the largest American city to pursue a clean energy community choice program (Cleantech San Diego, 2021)
- The Port of San Diego’s new all-electric cranes offer the heaviest lift capacity on the West Coast for heavy cargo like solar, wind, and industrial energy equipment (Port of San Diego, 2024)
- More than 1,700 foreign-owned enterprises have operations in San Diego employing 79,000 San Diegans (Dun & Bradstreet, 2024)
- $33 billion in total exports from San Diego in 2023 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2023)
- San Diego International Airport is the nation’s busiest single runway airport, generating more than $12 billion in annual economic impact and supporting more than 7,000 jobs. (SAN, 2022)
- San Diego International Airport (SAN) is the 14th best large airport in the U.S. (Forbes, 2022)
- San Diego International Airport achieves highest rating by airport carbon accreditation program (Aviation Pros, 2022)
- San Diego/Tijuana is a top medical device cluster globally (University of San Diego, 2022)
- San Diego/Tijuana named World Design Capital 2024, the first binational region to be awarded the distinction (World Design Organization, 2021)
- San Diego County offers a combined population of more than 7.1 million people, a 27,000 square mile footprint, two international airports, and the busiest land port of entry in the western hemisphere (Go Global: San Diego’s Trade and Investment Initiative, 2021)
- The U.S. is the largest exporter of services in the world, and San Diego is a top 10 services exporter among U.S. metros (Go Global: San Diego’s Trade and Investment Initiative, 2021)
- $3.5 billion in foreign investment into San Diego in 2020 (Go Global: San Diego’s Trade and Investment Initiative, 2021)
- $22 billion in total exports from San Diego in 2020 (Go Global: San Diego’s Trade and Investment Initiative, 2021)
- $46 billion in total imports to San Diego in 2020 (Go Global: San Diego’s Trade and Investment Initiative, 2021)
- Seven international ports of entry (Go Global: San Diego’s Trade and Investment Initiative, 2021)
- Home to two international airports, including world’s first cross-border airport terminal (Go Global: San Diego’s Trade and Investment Initiative, 2021)
- San Diego’s cyber cluster jobs are up eight percent and establishments up by 17 percent since 2021 (EDC, San Diego Cyber Center of Excellence, 2023)
- San Diego’s cyber talent pool has grown by nearly 10 percent since 2018 (EDC, San Diego Cyber Center of Excellence, 2023)
- In San Diego, 59 percent of private sector cybersecurity jobs are in industries outside of technology, such as manufacturing, architecture, and engineering (EDC, San Diego Cyber Center of Excellence, 2023)
- San Diego’s cybersecurity cluster accounts for more than 26,000 jobs, including 13,383 cyber-specific roles, and a total economic impact of $4 billion annually (EDC, San Diego Cyber Center of Excellence, 2023)
- Cybersecurity remote job postings made up 9.3 percent of all local cyber job openings in April, up from 3.3 percent in September 2019 (Securing the Future: AI and San Diego’s Cyber Cluster, 2021)
- Productivity in the Cyber cluster has grown 7.5 percent since 2018, nearly triple the average for all San Diego industries, thanks to the development and adoption of AI (Securing the Future: AI and San Diego’s Cyber Cluster, 2021)
- In 2020 alone, the U.S. Navy’s Naval Information Warfare Systems Command set aside $7.1 billion for private-industry Cyber and AI contracts, $1.6 billion of which was specifically for the San Diego region. That $1.6 billion is equal to 46 percent of the total economic contributions of San Diego’s Cyber cluster (Securing the Future: AI and San Diego’s Cyber Cluster, 2021)
- The San Diego region’s colleges and universities offer a collective 118 degree-track programs for occupations employing Cyber professionals (Cybersecurity in the San Diego Region, 2021)
- Nearly half of regional cybersecurity companies are doing business internationally (Cybersecurity in the San Diego Region, 2021)
- San Diego hosts the largest concentration of military assets in the world (San Diego Military Advisory Council, 2023)
- The military injected $36 billion in direct spending into San Diego’s economy in fiscal year 2023 (San Diego Military Advisory Council, 2023)
- Defense spending in the San Diego region produces 354,000 jobs (San Diego Military Advisory Council, 2023)
- Military-related spending in San Diego County had an overall increase of 17.6 percent from pre-pandemic fiscal year 2019 levels and continues to be a significant driver of the local economy (San Diego Military Advisory Council, 2023)
- For every dollar the government spends on defense in San Diego, $1.56 is added to the local economy (San Diego Military Advisory Council, 2023)
- San Diego-area defense contractors received $19 billion in contracts during the 2023 fiscal year supporting more than 200,000 jobs in more than 1,700 local companies (San Diego Military Advisory Council, 2023)
- Roughly 60,000 IT professionals call San Diego home, representing just more than four percent of total regional employment (San Diego Cyber Center of Excellence, 2021)
- $118,900 average annual pay, one of the highest paying employment sectors in the region (Qualcomm’s Contribution to San Diego’s Economy, 2019)
- Qualcomm, the largest smartphone chipmaker in the world, has an economic impact of $4 billion annually and 10,030 local workers (Qualcomm’s Contribution to San Diego’s Economy, 2019)
- Qualcomm employs roughly 12 percent of the region’s total tech talent (Qualcomm’s Contribution to San Diego’s Economy, 2019)
- San Diego is the third largest life sciences cluster in the U.S. (JLL, 2024)
- San Diego research institutions received $1.2 billion in National Institutes of Health and $117 million in National Science Foundation awards (Biocom, 2024)
- Life Sciences firms in San Diego produce more than 178,000 jobs with total earnings of $18.3 billion annually (Biocom, 2024)
- Life sciences activity in San Diego County accounts for $57.4 billion in gross regional product (Biocom, 2024)
- San Diego county is home to more than 2,000 life sciences establishments (Biocom, 2024)
- San Diego’s life sciences industry contributed $30B in regional GRP (Lightcast, 2023)
- San Diego ranks fifth in the U.S. for life sciences research talent (CBRE, 2022)
- San Diego life sciences firms captured nearly three-quarters of the estimated $3 billion in foreign investment injected into the regional economy in 2020 (Go Global: San Diego’s Trade and Investment Initiative, 2021)
- San Diego is third in the U.S. for life sciences and biotech jobs (Biospace, 2021)
- LunaDNA named among the top 10 most innovative social good companies of 2020 for its work with DNA and genome sequencing (Fast Company, 2020)
- The aerospace industry in the San Diego region has an annual economic impact of nearly $30 billion (EMSI, 2021)
- In North County alone, the aerospace cluster generates 13,800 total jobs and an average of $1.6 billion in wages annually (EMSI, 2021)
- The industry has an annual economic impact of $1.8 billion in North County San Diego, taking into account direct, indirect, and induced effects (EMSI, 2021)
- Barry Sharpless of La Jolla’s Scripps Research wins second Nobel Prize in chemistry (San Diego Union Tribune, 2022)
- UC San Diego houses the ninth-largest collection of highly cited researchers in the world according to Britain’s Clarivate study (San Diego Union Tribune, 2021)
- Scripps Research’s Ardem Patapoutian was awarded the Nobel Prize for helping discover how humans sense temperature and touch (San Diego Union Tribune, 2021)
- San Diego ranks nineteenth in leadings science cities (Nature Index, 2021)
- UC San Diego:
– Ranks sixth nationally in research spending, ahead of Harvard, UCLA and Stanford (National Science Foundation, 2021)
– Will generate $18.8 billion in annual economic impact for the state of California by 2023 (Tripp Umbach, 2021)
– Conducts $1.2 billion in sponsored research (Tripp Umbach, 2021)
– Ranks ninth among top biomedical research institutions in the world (Nature Index, 2019)
- San Diego startups Drata and Equip make LinkedIn’s “Top Startups 2023: The 50 U.S. Companies on the Rise” (LinkedIn, 2023)
- County startups raised $4.1 billion in venture capital funding in 2023 (Connect, 2023)
- Local companies raised $4.06 billion privately in 2023, with 11 of the 174 rounds being $100 million-plus fundings (Connect, 2023)
- 112 San Diego startups were acquired in 2023 (Connect, 2023)
- San Diego is the third best city in the country for startups (Crowdfund Capital Advisors, 2022)
- San Diego ranks as one of the most innovative cities in America (Fabricator, 2022)
- County startups raised more than $9 billion in 2021 (Connect, 2022)
- San Diego selected as an inclusive innovation hub (California Office of the Small Business Advocate, 2022)
- Coronado Beach ranked third Best Beaches in the U.S. (Travel + Leisure, 2024)
- Carlsbad ranked among top 20 of the Best Cities to Raise a Family in America (Niche, 2024)
- San Diego Mojo volleyball team play in the Pro Volleyball Federation (PVF, 2024)
- Oceanside’s Frontwave Arena to house Clippers G League team relocating from LA (NBA, 2024)
- San Diego Wave make 2023 playoffs (Axios, 2023)
- Barrio Logan neighborhood ranked #6 coolest neighborhood in the world (TimeOUT, 2022)
- Ranked one of the best cities in the world (Worlds Best Cities, 2022)
- San Marcos ranked #20 in Best Places to Live for Families (Fortune, 2022)
- San Diego Padres make 2022 playoffs (CBS8, 2022)
- San Diego Loyal make 2022 playoffs (CBS8, 2022)
- World champion skaters flocked to San Diego as the X-Games returned to North County (ESPN, 2022)
- Snapdragon Stadium opened at SDSU West (CBS8, 2022)
- Padres Petco Park:
– Named MLB’s most walkable stadium (Walk Score, 2024)
– Ranked #1 MLB stadium (USA Today, 2022) - Port of San Diego named world’s best cruise port (Global Traveler USA, 2022)
- Encinitas ranked ninth Best Beach Town to Live In (Stacker, 2021)
- San Diego is the #1 most fun place to live in the U.S. (U.S. News & World Report, 2021)
- San Diego is among the top three best cities for recreation in the U.S. (Wallet Hub, 2021)
- Software startups made up more than 50 percent of San Diego County’s new innovation startup companies established in 2023 (Connect, 2024)
- San Diego is home to more than 140,000 STEM workers (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2023)
- San Diego’s tech industry contributed $33.2 billion in regional GRP (Lightcast, 2023)
- San Diego names top U.S. metro for growth in tech talent (LinkedIn News, 2022)
- 157 of 273 private funding rounds for San Diego companies were tech or consumer companies (Connect, 2021)
- San Diego ranks as the fifth best city to start a tech career (Learn to code with me, 2021)
- San Diego leads the U.S. in annual wage growth at 4.8 percent (JLL, 2024)
- San Diego is one of the best cities for job growth (MoneyGeek, 2022)
- Southwestern College:
– First winners of the Corbin Gwaltney Award for Best All-Around Student Newspaper (Society of Professional Journalists, 2022) - San Diego State University:
– #8 international business program in the U.S. (U.S. News & World Report, 2022)
– Ranks fifth among Best Online Master’s in Education programs (U.S. News & World Report, 2024)
– Ranks among Best of the Best LGBTQ-friendly Universities (Campus Pride, 2023)
– #8 international business program in the U.S. (U.S. News & World Report, 2022)
– Ranks nationwide for ethnic diversity (U.S. News and World Report, 2021) - UC San Diego:
– Ranked fifth among public universities for NIH funding (UCSD Today, 2024)
– #3 best public college (Forbes, 2023)
– #1 undergraduate bioinformatics/biotechnology program (U.S. News & World Report, 2022)
– Ranked among top 20 universities in the world (U.S. News and World Report, 2022)
– #8 best public university in the U.S. (U.S. News and World Report, 2022)
– #22 best career services in the U.S. (Princeton Review, 2022)
– Top 10 post-grad business schools in the U.S. (U.S. News and World Report, 2021) - Point Loma Nazarene University:
– Ranked seventh Best Christian College in America (Niche, 2024)
- Miramar College:
– Top 20% of community colleges in California for: Least expensive tuition, diversity in U.S. community colleges, highest graduate earnings, least debt for graduates (Community College Review, 2021) - MiraCosta College:
– Only community college in California to offer a craft brewing certificate program that meets the standards set by Master Brewers Association of the Americas (MiraCosta College, 2022)
– Automotive Technology Program accredited by the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence (MiraCosta College, 2021) - University of San Diego:
– #9 best college campus in the U.S. (Niche, 2024)
– #6 best Catholic college in the U.S. (Niche, 2024)
– Named one of the top law programs in the country (U.S. News & World Report, 2022) - Cal State San Marcos:
– Library received 2024 Library Excellence in Access and Diversity Award (INSIGHT Into Diversity, 2023)
– Ranks 1st nationally out of more than 1,400 schools for social mobility (Social Mobility Index, 2022)
– Ranks 39th in the economic mobility index (Third Way, 2022)
– #1 in the U.S. for social mobility (CollegeNET, 2022)
– Top veteran friendly school (U.S. Veterans Magazine, 2022) - National University:
– Ranks first nationally among Best Online Colleges in America (Niche, 2024)
- Booz Allen Hamilton named among America’s Best Employers for Diversity (Forbes, 2024)
- San Diego ranks fourth in LGBTQ-owned business openings (Yelp, 2023)
- SDG&E contracts $450 million with minority-owned firms in San Diego (Sempra, 2023)
- San Diego scores a perfect 100 on laws, policies, and services that support LGBTQ people on the HRC evaluation (HRC.org, 2022)
- Qualcomm named thirteenth best employer for diversity (Forbes, 2022)
- SDG&E sets supplier diversity record (Stockhouse, 2022)
- Illumina named:
– Best Places to Work for LGBTQ Talent (Corporate Equality Index, 2022)
– Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index (Bloomberg, 2021)
– America’s Most JUST Company for Workers in Pharma/Biotech (Forbes, 2021) - San Diego is the sixth best city in the country for women in STEM (CommercialCafe, 2021)
- San Diego, Oceanside, Chula Vista are three of the “Best Cities for LGBTQ Inclusion” (Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Municipal Equality Index, 2021)
- San Diego’s Chula Vista became the first city in California to be designated as a Certified Welcoming City by Welcoming America (Certified Welcoming, 2021)