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Data on this report is based on areas within the legal city boundary, outlined in black on the map. Any additional neighborhoods shown on the map are associated with the city by name and are included for reference only.

South Lake Tahoe, CA
Real Estate & Demographic Data






South Lake Tahoe profile


Living in South Lake Tahoe



South Lake Tahoe is a medium-sized city located in the state of California. With a population of 21,175 people and 13 associated neighborhoods, South Lake Tahoe is the 308th largest community in California.

Housing costs in South Lake Tahoe are among some of the highest in the nation, although real estate prices here don't compare to real estate prices in the most expensive communities in California.

Telecommuters are a relatively large percentage of the workforce: 11.91% of people work from home. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce it is high relative to the nation. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.

Another notable thing is that South Lake Tahoe is an extremely popular destination for tourists and seasonal residents. So much of the population is seasonal such that the city’s population swells significantly during the vacation season, and drops again when the season ends. Because of this, much of the local economy is centered around tourism; some businesses may be operated only during the high season. During the low season, year-round residents will notice that the city is a substantially quieter place to live.

Residents of the city have the good fortune of having one of the shortest daily commutes compared to the rest of the country. On average, they spend only 16.08 minutes getting to work every day.

In terms of college education, South Lake Tahoe is substantially better educated than the typical community in the nation, which has 21.84% of the adults holding a bachelor's degree or graduate degree: 30.31% of adults in South Lake Tahoe have a college degree.

The per capita income in South Lake Tahoe in 2022 was $46,093, which is upper middle income relative to California, and wealthy relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $184,372 for a family of four. However, South Lake Tahoe contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

South Lake Tahoe is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call South Lake Tahoe home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of South Lake Tahoe residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. South Lake Tahoe also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 28.53% of the city’s residents. Important ancestries of people in South Lake Tahoe include German, Irish, English, Italian, and European.

South Lake Tahoe also has a high percentage of its population that was born in another country: 21.37%.

The most common language spoken in South Lake Tahoe is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Tagalog.