San Diego Metropolitan Statistical Area
Economic Profile

Fall 2024 | With William Jiyan Wang, Joey Xiaxin Tang, & Shihang Yan

San Diego Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), which shares the same boundary with San Diego County, is located in the south-most part of the State of California, bordering Tijuana, Mexico. This area has experienced fast economic growth in recent decades, and is currently characterised by its innovation industries especially in technology, close proximity to Mexico which encourages cross-border trading, beautiful landscape that brings millions of visitors annually, and presence of Naval Base San Diego. While the area has unique characteristics that contributed to their growth in recent decades, it is facing severe internal challenges such as lack of affordable housing and external threats such as potential increase in tariff and evolving border policies. This document is a most up-to-date economic profile that synthesizes San Diego MSA’s economic outlook in the last quarter of 2024 and critically examines the strategies and objectives proposed in San Diego Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (2022). The profile first introduces the San Diego MSA’s geographic location, demographic characteristics, and key economic trends, including population and industries growth patterns and shift share patterns, followed by a summary of vision and themes the region is aiming and pursuing. We then dive deeper into three areas that are critical to the region’s future development – inequity related to commuting and housing affordability, the leading innovation industries, and sustainability. Through the lens of Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) model, we critically examine the alignment between existing conditions up to December 2024 and the CEDS strategies proposed in 2022, and bridge any potential gaps where 2022 strategies are insufficient in tackling. Next, given the importance of cross-border trade to the region, including flow of goods and labor force, the deep dive section zooms into looking at existing programs and projects that currently fosters economic interactions across the border while offering a critical view on the potential threats raised by the recently elected administration, especially on tariff and border control. This document concludes with a summary of key takeaways from our critical evaluation on proposed strategies and the region’s e​​conomic outlook.

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