The Relocation Network

It is a city with population of nearly 1.3 million residents and more than 2.8 million residents countywide. Within its borders of 4,200 sq. miles, San Diego County encompasses 18 incorporated cities and numerous other unique neighborhoods and communities, including downtown's historic Gaslamp Quarter, Little Italy, Coronado, La Jolla, Del Mar, Carlsbad, Escondido, Pacific Beach, La Mesa, Hillcrest, Barrio Logan, Chula Vista and more.

San Diego is situated on the site of the first European settlement in California. In 1542, Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo sailed into San Diego Bay and claimed the land for Spain. Two hundred years later, Gaspar de Portola and a group of Spanish settlers founded a military outpost on what is now Presidio Hill in 1769. At the same time, Franciscan friar Junipero Serra founded Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcala, the first of the chain of 21 California Spanish Missions.

San Diego has an exceptional natural harbor, which has made it a leading shipping and receiving point for Southern California, Arizona, New Mexico and Mexico's Baja California. It is also headquarters for the 11th U.S. Naval District with major naval and marine training bases also located here. San Diego has large aerospace, electronic and shipbuilding industries, and is an important center for biomedical research and oceanography. It is also a distributing and processing point for the highly productive Imperial Valley agricultural area to the east. Median incomes vary throughout the region from $45,041 in San Diego to $94,052 in Del Mar, $60,107 in Carlsbad and $48,020 in Chula Vista. The average medium price for San Diego is $485,000.

Where else can enjoy coastal, mountain and desert environments and even another country all in the space of one day? In San Diego's North County, the lush land produces large quantities of flowers, vegetable crops, as well as quality grapes that become excellent wines. Along the west, miles of Pacific Ocean coastline not only encourages year-round outdoor recreation, such as surfing, boating, sailing and swimming, but also provides leading scientific research at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. In San Diego's East County, the landscape varies from moderate foothills to mile-high mountains, down to the 600,000-acre Anza Borrego Desert State Park, offering outdoor lovers abundant opportunities to hike, camp, fish, and observe wildlife. To the south, it's a whole other world, Mexico, featuring its own cultural heritage in various towns along the Baja Peninsula, including Tijuana, Rosarito and Ensenada.

The weather makes the incredible landscape and recreational activities accessible throughout the year. High temperatures rarely exceed 77 degrees and low temperatures rarely dip below 50 degrees. With slightly more than 10 inches of rainfall annually, San Diego has many days of sunshine to enjoy its famous beaches and the warmest ocean waters along the California coast.