San Pablo 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 31,249 people and nine associated neighborhoods, San Pablo is the 245th largest community in California.

Housing costs in San Pablo 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.

A relatively large number of people in San Pablo telecommute to their jobs. Overall, about 7.29% 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 San Pablo 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.

In San Pablo, however, the average commute to work is quite long. On average, people spend 33.01 minutes each day getting to work, which is significantly higher than the national average. One bright side is that local public transit is widely used, so it may be an option to avoid the headache of driving in the heavy traffic by leaving the car at home and taking transit.

For the size of the city, public transportation in San Pablo is quite heavily used. Mostly, people who use it for their daily commute are taking the bus. For San Pablo, the benefits are reduced air pollution and congestion on the highways.

The percentage of adults in San Pablo with college degrees is slightly lower than the national average of 21.84% for all communities. 15.00% of adults in San Pablo have a bachelor's degree or advanced degree.

The per capita income in San Pablo in 2022 was $29,111, which is lower middle income relative to California and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $116,444 for a family of four. However, San Pablo contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

San Pablo is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call San Pablo 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 San Pablo, accounting for 60.32% of the city’s residents (people of Hispanic or Latino origin can be of any race). The greatest number of San Pablo residents report their race to be Asian, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in San Pablo include English, Italian, German, Brazilian, and European.

Foreign born people are also an important part of San Pablo's cultural character, accounting for 40.78% of the city’s population.

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