Migration to and from San Diego County, California
Where San Diego County residents came from and where they went over the 5-year window 2016-2020. Census ACS County-to-County Migration Flows, 2020 5-yr (frozen vintage).
Total inflow
180,763
people moved in (5-yr)
Total outflow
168,782
people moved out (5-yr)
Net migration
+11,981
inflow minus outflow
Top 10 counties people moved IN from
| Origin | State / Region | People (5-yr) |
|---|---|---|
| Asia | 16,574 | |
| Los Angeles County | California | 10,436 |
| Orange County | California | 8,261 |
| Riverside County | California | 8,201 |
| Central America | 7,188 | |
| San Bernardino County | California | 5,342 |
| Europe | 4,114 | |
| Santa Clara County | California | 3,074 |
| Honolulu County | Hawaii | 2,374 |
| Maricopa County | Arizona | 2,169 |
Top 10 counties people moved OUT to
| Destination | State / Region | People (5-yr) |
|---|---|---|
| Riverside County | California | 15,263 |
| Los Angeles County | California | 8,898 |
| Orange County | California | 6,978 |
| San Bernardino County | California | 6,204 |
| Maricopa County | Arizona | 5,206 |
| San Francisco County | California | 2,649 |
| Clark County | Nevada | 2,362 |
| Santa Clara County | California | 2,226 |
| Alameda County | California | 1,797 |
| King County | Washington | 1,767 |
Explore San Diego County
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- Cities in CaliforniaACS demographic profiles for places statewide
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Methodology
- Counts represent the number of people aged 1+ who reported a different residence at the survey reference date than they did one year earlier, aggregated across the 5-year sample window 2016-2020.
- Outbound (OUT) flows are reported less frequently than inbound (IN) because the survey captures the destination side of each move. Many county pairs have null OUT counts, which is normal.
- "Total inflow" sums the published MOVEDIN counts across all origin counties, including foreign-region inflows (Africa, Asia, Central America, etc.). It is not the same as net population change.
- Frozen vintage. The Census Bureau has not released a newer county-to-county migration flows file. The 2020 5-yr vintage (covering 2016-2020) is the latest available as of build date.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, County-to-County Migration Flows: 2016-2020. Vintage: 2020 5-yr. Generated: 2026-05-28. FIPS: 06073.