San Diego is the second-largest city in California and is one of the fastest-growing cities in the U.S.
This ever-growing area is known for its beautiful beaches, perfect year-round weather, a world famous zoo and its transient military community.
If you would like to make San Diego home, we are here to help you find the right neighborhood to suit your lifestyle.
We combed through Google data using generic keyword searches and combined those results with the most searched San Diego neighborhoods on ApartmentGuide.com to determine the five most popular San Diego neighborhoods with renters.
Here is a quick overview of each neighborhood and what you’d expect to pay for rent in each area.
Mission Valley is located east of Downtown San Diego and is the center for shopping and entertainment. It is home to the SDCCU Stadium and is close to San Diego State University. Young professionals, families and college students primarily reside in this area. The slightly above-average rent is worth it if you like easy access to other parts of town.
Hillcrest is located a few minutes north of Downtown. It offers an array of highly acclaimed international restaurants, exciting nightlife, a large shopping district, unique street fairs and a farmer’s market. Hillcrest is known for its LGBT community who primarily live in the neighborhood. The lower-than-average rental prices make it a desirable spot to live if you want to be near Downtown without the high price tag.
Little Italy is located in Downtown and is a chic, upscale area that draws professionals. It is known for Italian cuisine (of course), cocktail bars and a weekly farmer's market. Waterfront Park was recently added, which has a breathtaking view of the San Diego harbor. If you want to live in this neighborhood, be ready to shell out some cash.
Mira Mesa is just north of Marine Corps Air Station Miramar – the former home of the Navy's famous TOPGUN program. Active military personnel and their families, hi-tech professionals and singles are primarily drawn to this neighborhood, which is easily accessible from the 15 and 805 freeways. The lower-than-average rent makes it a desirable neighborhood if you want to raise your family outside of the city.
Linda Vista is a mesa community overlooking Mission Valley and Mission Bay. The well-known University of San Diego is located here. You can quickly hop onto the freeway to go to Downtown, SeaWorld or the nearby beach communities. College students and older couples are drawn to this neighborhood due to its average rent prices and accessibility to any part of the city.
Felix is an SEO Analyst specializing in demographics, rent trends, economic data and measuring user intent. He primarily focuses on the retail, transportation and real estate industries, and his work has appeared in the Stanford Undergraduate Economics Journal. Felix holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of Michigan.