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How diverse is San Luis Obispo County?
Although the vast majority of San Luis Obispo County residents are white, some local cities have relativity high percentages of people who identify as Hispanic or Latino
SLO County had a population of 281,843 people in 2024, according to the most recent data available from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Of those, 84% identified as white, Census data show, regardless of if they were Latino or Hispanic.
A Tribune reader recently asked, “What’s the diversity status of San Luis Obispo County?”
The Tribune looked at Census records to determine how demographics in SLO County cities break down in terms of race and ethnicity.
Here’s what we found out:
How diverse is SLO? See demographics
According to Census records, 74% of SLO County’s population - 65,542 people- lived in the city of San Luis Obispo in 2024.
About 86.5% of the city’s population identified as white in 2024.
Of SLO’s remaining residents, 2.4% identified as Black or African American, 9.4% as Asian and 18% as Hispanic or Latino.
SLO had the highest percentage of Asian residents of any city in SLO County, according to Census records.
SLO had the lowest percentage of people identifying as American Indian or Alaska Native of any city in the county, with 1.57%.
About 1% of city residents identified as Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islanders.
Roughly 17% identified as “two or more races,” Census officials said.
About 14% of SLO’s population didn’t identify as a specific race or belonged to other races that weren’t listed.
How do Morro Bay’s demographics break down?
About 89% of Morro Bay’s 10,692 residents identified as white in 2024, while 13% identified as Hispanic or Latino, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
About 3% of Morro Bay residents identified as Asian, while just 1% identified as Black.
Native Americans made up 3.4% of Morro Bay’s population, and 13% identified as “some other race,” the Census Bureau said.
No Morro Bay residents identified as Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander in 2024.
Almost 10% of Morro Bay’s population identified as two or more races.
Which local city has the largest Black population?
In 2024, 29,712 people lived in Atascadero, where almost 86.6% of the population identified as white and 22.5% identified as Hispanic or Latino, Census data show.
About 5% of Atascadero residents identified as Asian while 5% identified as Black, making Atascadero the city with the highest Black population in SLO County.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 4.5% of city residents identified as American Indian or Alaska Native, the largest such community in any local city.
Like much of the Central Coast, modern-day Atascadero falls within the ancestral boundaries on the Salinan Nation, according to the Salinan Tribe of Monterey and San Luis Obispo Counties.
A race was not listed for 14% of Atascadero’s population in 2024.
How do Paso Robles residents identify?
About 36.7% of Paso Robles’ population identified as Hispanic or Latino in 2024, Census data show, the second highest such percentage of any city in the county.
The city formally known as El Paso de Robles traces its Latino roots back to the late 18th century, when Spanish conquistadors and Franciscan missionaries introduced cattle ranching and winemaking to the area.
About 79% of Paso Robles’ 31,446 residents identified as white, while 4.4% identified as Asian and 1.6% identified as Black.
About 4% of Paso Robles residents identified as American Indian or Alaska Native, making it the county’s second-largest community for that demographic.
Only 71 people identified as a Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander in Paso Robles.
Among SLO County cities, Paso Robles had the highest percentage of people who identified as two or more races - 20%.
How does Pismo Beach population break down by race?
According to Census data, Pismo Beach had the smallest population of any incorporated city in SLO County in 2024, with 8,014 people.
The South County city had the highest percentage of white residents of any city in the county, 90%.
About 10.7% of residents identified as Hispanic or Latino.
Only 0.7% of the population identified at Black.
About 5% of city residents identified as Asian, and 2% were of Native American descent.
About 10% of Pismo Beach’s population did not have a race listed in 2024.
Which local city has the highest share of Latino residents?
A total of 12,604 people lived in Grover Beach in 2024, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Of those, 86% identified as white, while 3.8% identified as Asian and 2% as Black.
About 38% of Grover Beach residents identified as Hispanic or Latino, the highest such percentage of any city in the county.
American Indian and Alaska Native residents accounted for 4% of Grover Beach’s population.
Out of 18,372 Arroyo Grande residents, 90% identified as white in 2024, according to Census records.
Nearly 21% of the South County city’s population identified as Hispanic or Latino.
Of the remaining residents, 7.6% identified as Asian, 3.8% identified as American Indian or Alaska Native and 1% as Black.
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