Imperial Beach is a medium-sized coastal city (i.e. on the ocean, a bay, or inlet) located in the state of California. With a population of 25,458 people and seven associated neighborhoods, Imperial Beach is the 279th largest community in California.

Housing costs in Imperial Beach 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.

Imperial Beach is home to a number of people employed in the armed forces. When you visit or walk around Imperial Beach, some of the people you will bump into will be military people In and out of uniform, jogging, shopping and generally out and about town.

Also of interest is that Imperial Beach has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.

A relatively large number of people in Imperial Beach telecommute to their jobs. Overall, about 9.45% of the workforce works from home. While this may seem like a small number, as a fraction of the total workforce it ranks among the highest in the country. 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.

One of the nice things about Imperial Beach is that it is nautical, which means that parts of it are somewhat historic and touch the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and bays. Because of this, visitors and locals will often go to these areas to take in the scenery or to enjoy waterfront activities.

Although the majority of commuting trips in the city are by private automobile, Imperial Beach is somewhat unusual for a city of its size for having a substantial number of people who use public transportation. For a lot of people, the bus helps to get to and from their jobs every morning, which benefits everyone in the Imperial Beach area by reducing both traffic and air pollution.

The education level of Imperial Beach citizens is a little higher than the average for US cities and towns: 23.71% of adults in Imperial Beach have at least a bachelor's degree.

The per capita income in Imperial Beach in 2022 was $38,709, which is middle income relative to California, and upper middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $154,836 for a family of four. However, Imperial Beach contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

Imperial Beach is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Imperial Beach home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. People of Hispanic or Latino origin are the most prevalent group in Imperial Beach, accounting for 50.76% of the city’s residents (people of Hispanic or Latino origin can be of any race). The greatest number of Imperial Beach residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. Important ancestries of people in Imperial Beach include German, Irish, English, Italian, and French.

Foreign born people are also an important part of Imperial Beach's cultural character, accounting for 17.65% of the city’s population.

The most common language spoken in Imperial Beach is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Tagalog.