Groundwork

Health care · Metro area · California

Urgent care and walk-in clinics in the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA metro area

How the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA metro area compares with other metro areas and the U.S. for urgent care and walk-in clinics: competitors, household spending, official counts and growth.

Groundwork market score · out of 100

Score 46 out of 100: Lower middle

Ranked #114 of 197 scored metro areas
#10 of 15 scored metro areas based in California

Listings
101
13 chain locations (13%)
Official establishments
86
+41.0% since 2019
Household spending a year
$1.8B
On medical and dental services · $1,502 a household
Spending per listing
$17.4M
29% below the U.S.
Listings per 10k households
0.9
80% above the U.S.
Population, 2025
3,282,248
−0.6% since 2020

See the urgent care and walk-in clinics around any address in the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metro area

The site report maps the urgent care and walk-in clinics on map listings near the address, by name and distance, and sizes the households and spending around it. Or open the report at the center of the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metro area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.

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Survey estimates 2020–2024 · population estimates 2025 · official business counts 2023 · map listings September 2026 · Data credits · How we measure

What this means

Map listings as of September 2026 show 101 urgent care and walk-in clinics in the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metro area. Of those, 13 are chain locations, or 13%, against 24% across the U.S. That is 0.9 per 10,000 households, 80% above the U.S. rate of 0.5.

Household spending on medical and dental services in the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metro area comes to about $1.8B a year: $1,502 per household, 17% above the U.S. average. That works out to $17.4M per clinic, 29% below the U.S. figure of $24.5M. That spending covers all medical and dental services, which urgent care and walk-in clinics share with other businesses in the trade.

Official counts show 86 businesses with payroll classed as freestanding emergency and urgent care centers in the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metro area in 2023, up 41.0% from 2019. That is one for every 13,620 households, against one for every 12,867 across the U.S. Since fiscal 2022, 1 SBA-backed loan worth $45K has gone to businesses classed as freestanding emergency and urgent care centers in the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metro area.

Between 2020 and 2025, the population of the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metro area declined 0.6%, against +3.1% for the U.S. For urgent care and walk-in clinics, the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metro area has a Groundwork market score of 46 (lower middle): #114 of 197 scored metro areas and #10 of 15 scored metro areas based in California.

How the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metro area compares

The same measures for California and the whole U.S. Spending per listing divides a year of household spending on all medical and dental services by the urgent care and walk-in clinics counted, so it measures the demand for each competitor, not any business’s revenue. Households per establishment does the same with the official count.

Urgent care and walk-in clinics in San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA metro area compared with California and the U.S.
MeasureSan Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metro areaCaliforniaU.S.
Listings per 10k households0.90.60.5
Spending per listing$17.4M$23.8M$24.5M
Households per official establishment13,62011,07812,867
Official establishment growth, 2019–2023+41.0%+48.8%+32.0%
Population growth, 2020–2025−0.6%−0.4%+3.1%
Spending per household on medical and dental services$1,502$1,464$1,288
Median household income$106,268$99,122$80,734
Groundwork market score4639

Official counts and lending

Businesses

Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
86+41.0% over the period
Employees, 2023
1,209
Annual payroll, 2023
$89.6M
One-person businesses, 2023
Not publishedNot published for this business type
Map listings, September 2026
10113 chain locations
Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
72The U.S. ratio of listings to household spending, applied here

SBA-backed loans since fiscal 2022

Loans
1
Amount
$45K

SBA-backed loans to businesses classed as freestanding emergency and urgent care centers in the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metro area, through June 2026, placed by the borrower’s ZIP code. Official establishments are businesses with payroll; the official counts leave out places with fewer than 3.

Population and households in the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metro area

Population, 2025 estimate
3,282,248−0.6% since 2020
Households
1,171,278
Median age
38.9
Homes lived in by their owners
55%
Vehicles per household
1.9
Land area
4,211 sq. mi.
People per square mile
781
Median household income
$106,268+34.6% vs. 2015–2019, before inflation
Average household income
$141,250
Median home value
$854,700
Jobs located here
1,516,991
Daytime population
3,269,716Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here

Looking at a specific site in the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metro area?

These figures cover the whole metro area. A site report draws rings around one address and counts what’s inside them: households, spending, jobs, and the urgent care and walk-in clinics on map listings by name and distance.

Or open the report at the center of the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metro area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.

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Urgent care and walk-in clinics across California

Every California market ranked →

The highest-scoring metro areas in California for urgent care and walk-in clinics, numbered among those based in California, with the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metro area marked.

Top metro areas in California

Metro areas in California ranked for urgent care and walk-in clinics by Groundwork market score
MarketScoreListingsPer 10k householdsSpending per listingPopulation growthU.S. rank
1San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA77340.5$36.2M−0.6%#10 of 197
2San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA76600.3$49.1M−2.4%#11 of 197
3Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA70380.4$33.2M+3.2%#27 of 197
4Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA6650.5$30M−4.7%#36 of 197
5Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA65120.6$23.8M−0.4%#40 of 197
6Fresno, CA64130.4$35.9M+3.2%#41 of 197
7Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA58710.5$27.9M+3.5%#65 of 197
8Bakersfield-Delano, CA5280.3$43.5M+2.3%#89 of 197
9Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA5170.5$31.1M−1.4%#95 of 197
10San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA461010.9$17.4M−0.6%#114 of 197

Other business types in the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metro area

Each with its Groundwork market score here, out of 100, where it has one.

Questions

How many urgent care and walk-in clinics are in the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA metro area?

There are 101 urgent care and walk-in clinics on map listings in the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metro area as of September 2026. 13 of them (13%) are chain locations. The listings count urgent care and walk-in clinics. Official counts show 86 businesses with payroll classed as freestanding emergency and urgent care centers in 2023, up 41.0% from 2019.

How much do households in the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA metro area spend on medical and dental services?

About $1.8B a year, or $1,502 per household. That is 17% above the U.S. average (an index of 117, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 101 urgent care and walk-in clinics on map listings, it comes to $17.4M per clinic. The spending figure covers all medical and dental services, not only urgent care and walk-in clinics. It is estimated from the incomes of the 1,171,278 households in the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metro area and national spending patterns by income.

How does the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA metro area compare with the U.S. for urgent care and walk-in clinics?

The San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metro area has 0.9 urgent care and walk-in clinics per 10,000 households, 80% above the U.S. rate of 0.5. Spending per clinic is $17.4M, 29% below the U.S. figure of $24.5M. At the national ratio of urgent care and walk-in clinics to household spending, the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metro area would have about 72, against 101 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 13,620 households, against one for every 12,867 across the U.S. The official count rose 41.0% from 2019 to 2023, against +32.0% for the U.S.

How fast is the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA metro area growing?

Population estimates put the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metro area at 3,282,248 people in 2025, down 0.6% since 2020, against +3.1% for the U.S. It has 1,171,278 households. The median household income in the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metro area is $106,268 a year, 32% above the U.S. median of $80,734. That rose 34.6% from the 2015–2019 survey, before inflation.

What is the Groundwork market score?

The Groundwork market score runs from 0 to 100 and compares a market with others of its kind for one business type: states with states, metro areas with metro areas, small-town markets and counties with their own. It weighs household spending per competitor (35%), households per business with payroll (25%), population growth (20%) and spending power (20%), each ranked against those peers. A higher score means that, taken together, the market has more household spending and more households for each business already there, faster population growth and more spending per household than similar markets. It describes a market, not any one site or deal. The San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metro area scores 46 for urgent care and walk-in clinics (lower middle), #114 of 197 scored metro areas.

How can I see the market around a specific site?

Run a Groundwork site report on an address in the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metro area. It maps the urgent care and walk-in clinics on map listings near the site and sizes the households and spending within the distance you choose. New accounts get 10 actions over 3 days, no card.

How the score works · Top markets for urgent care and walk-in clinics · All 56 business types in the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metro area

Screening a site or an acquisition in the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metro area?

A site report maps the competitors on map listings near an address and sizes the households and spending around it.

The button opens the report at the center of the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metro area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.

This product uses the Census Bureau Data API but is not endorsed or certified by the Census Bureau.

Figures are estimates for research only. Not investment or real estate advice.