Moving to
Bostonia.

All Bostonia data Compare Bostonia

16,765people live here $78,878median household incomeNear US average $2,087median rent per month▲ 48% above US $487,600median home value▲ 47% above US

Bostonia is an unincorporated community in San Diego County, CA. It has no city government: the county runs it, and the Census counts it as its own place.

What it's like to live in Bostonia

Bostonia is an unincorporated community in California. The numbers below lay out what daily life there actually looks like.

The tradeoffs are worth naming plainly. Bostonia deals with rent well above the national average, home prices well above the national average, air quality that falls short of national benchmarks, and college degree attainment below the national average.

The not so good

Rent well above the national average
High home prices
Air quality concerns
Low college degree attainment
High student-teacher ratio
High rent burden for renters

How Bostonia compares

Median household income

Bostonia$78,878

California avg$99,122

US$80,734

Median rent (per month)

Bostonia$2,087

California avg$2,036

US$1,413

Median home value

Bostonia$487,600

California avg$734,700

US$332,700

What it takes to move to Bostonia

Based on Bostonia's median rent, home value and household income

To rent

$4,174

up front: first month plus a typical one-month deposit

Income to keep rent under 30%: $83,480 a year
59% of Bostonia renters spend 30% or more of their income on rent

To buy

$97,520

a 20% down payment on the median home

With 10% down: $48,760
Homes cost 6.2× the typical local household income (US: 4.1×)

Moving costs, closing costs and taxes not included.

The details

Cost of living▲ 48% above US

$2,087/mo median rent

Rent is expensive here, at $2,087 a month median and well above the national average. This is the kind of city where housing costs deserve serious budgeting before committing to a move. Home prices are steep, with a median around $487,600. Renting first to get a feel for the city before buying is often the more practical route.

Median home value $487,600 · 59% of renters cost-burdened

Job market

4.6% county unemployment

Unemployment in San Diego County is 4.6%, close to the national average of 4.3%. That's the county-wide rate; BLS doesn't measure a place this size on its own.

San Diego County (county-wide)

Safety

167 violent crimes per 100k, whole jurisdiction

Bostonia doesn't have its own police department, so there's no crime rate for it alone. The figures shown are for the San Diego County Sheriff's Office jurisdiction as a whole, which runs below the national average for violent crime and covers many communities. Individual neighborhoods can differ a lot from that overall rate.

Property crime 315/100k · Policed by San Diego County Sheriff's Office (county-wide rate) · 2025 data

Getting aroundNear US average

25 min average commute

Commutes run about average, at 24.9 minutes. Fine day to day, but it adds up over a year, and where someone lives relative to where they work starts to matter. 8 in 10 workers drive to work; 13% work from home.

How workers get to work

Drive alone

72%

Work from home

13%

Carpool

8.5%

Public transit

3.0%

Other

2.1%

Walk

1.7%

Climate

Summers are warm, with highs around 85°F, and winters are mild, with lows rarely dropping below 43°F. It's a dry climate with limited rainfall.

Average month

High °FLow °FPrecip (in)

30-year averages, 1991–2020

Education & workforce▼ 39% below US

22% bachelor's degree or higher

College degree attainment runs below average at 22%. That tends to reflect a more trade and working-class economy, which can be great or limiting depending on the industry.

Schools

1 public school inside the boundary

There is 1 public school inside the boundary. The student-to-teacher ratio is 25:1, above the national average of 16:1.

Parks & recreation

The nearest national park or historic site is Cabrillo National Monument (20 miles away). There are 3 national parks and sites within a day's drive.

Bottom line

Nothing in Bostonia's numbers stands out as a clear strength, and the main tradeoffs are rent well above the national average and home prices well above the national average. A year of median rent ($2,087/mo) equals 32% of the median household income here, more than the 21% typical nationwide. It may be a harder fit for renters on a tight budget.

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