Costa Mesa

Population & Demographics

Costa Mesa, CA

Costa Mesa is home to 110,330 people. Explore its demographics, housing, and economy — plus how its 52,536 resident workers commute each day.

CaliforniaCensus ACS 5-Year · LODES 2023
110,330
people
Population

110,330 residents

Median age 36.7 · U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year (2024).

Costa Mesa population & demographics

Who lives in Costa Mesa — population, age, housing, and income, from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Population
110,330
Median age
36.7yrs
Median household income
$111,505
Median home value
$1,115,100
Median gross rent
$2,446/mo
Bachelor’s degree or higher
45.0%
Poverty rate
9.1%

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS) 2024 5-Year Estimates. Values shown as “—” are suppressed or unavailable for this place.

Race & ethnicity in Costa Mesa

How Costa Mesa breaks down by race and ethnicity — each bar is that group’s share of the population, from the U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year (2024).

White47.5%
Hispanic or Latino36.6%
Asian8.1%
Two or more races4.6%
Black1.7%
Some other race0.7%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander0.6%
American Indian / Alaska Native0.1%

Race across Costa Mesa

Each dot is a group of people, placed in their 2020 Census block and colored by race or ethnicity — the pattern shows where groups live across Costa Mesa.

Costa Mesa at a glance
Employed Residents
52,536
Fewer than the city’s total population
Median home–work distance
7.8mi
Straight-line, not road distance
Work Locally
13.7%
Share working within the area
Work from home
22.2%
Residents who work from home (ACS)
Top destination outside city
Irvine
Excludes local — most work in-city

These figures are for Costa Mesa proper — the Census place within its city limits — not the surrounding metro area. Metro-wide totals you’ll see elsewhere are larger because they bundle in neighboring cities and suburbs.

How Costa Mesa commutes

Every dot is a worker moving between home and job. Trace where the area pulls people in from — and where its residents head each day.

66
Commute Score

66 / 100

How short the typical commute is here, on an absolute 0–100 scale (higher is shorter). How it’s calculated.

Costa Mesa

52,536 commutes, one dot at a time

Costa Mesa

Where 52,536 workers commute

Each dot ≈ 75 workers

Where residents work

Top destinations for people who live in Costa Mesa, by worker count.

1Irvine7.8 mi7,272
2Costa Mesa0.0 mi7,179
3Newport Beach3.5 mi5,648
4Santa Ana5.4 mi3,320
5Los Angeles39.3 mi3,113
6Huntington Beach5.6 mi2,082
7Anaheim11.9 mi1,686
8Orange10.5 mi1,684

Who commutes in

Top origin places for workers who travel into Costa Mesa.

1Costa Mesa0.0 mi7,179
2Santa Ana5.4 mi6,777
3Irvine7.8 mi5,034
4Huntington Beach5.6 mi4,576
5Los Angeles39.3 mi4,245
6Anaheim11.9 mi3,955
7Garden Grove8.3 mi2,641
8Newport Beach3.5 mi2,364

Top industries

The sectors that employ Costa Mesa’s workforce. Each bar is scaled to that sector’s share of all local jobs — the top sectors shown don’t add up to 100%.

Bar length = each sector’s share of all local jobs (0–100%)
RTRetail Trade14.4%
PTProfessional, Scientific, and Technical Services11.3%
AFAccommodation and Food Services10.8%
ADAdministrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services9.6%
HCHealth Care and Social Assistance8.5%
EDEducational Services7.5%
MGManagement of Companies and Enterprises6.2%
MFManufacturing5.6%
COConstruction5.4%
Connectivity

Internet options for Costa Mesa

The biggest home-internet providers in the area — tap any to compare local plans.

6 providers · 2 with fiber
Speed availabilityshare of homes a plan reaches
1 Gbps~all homes
2 Gbps91%
5 Gbps91%
8 Gbps
See all internet providers in Costa Mesa

FindBetterInternet is a CensusFlow partner site — we link out so you can compare local plans, and CensusFlow’s Census data stays independent. Provider data is from the FCC National Broadband Map (satellite + fixed wireless excluded).