South Lake Tahoe is a medium-sized city located in the state of California. With a population of 21,225 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.

Of important note, South Lake Tahoe is also a city of artists. South Lake Tahoe has more artists, designers and people working in media than 90% of the communities in America. This concentration of artists helps shape South Lake Tahoe’s character.

A relatively large number of people in South Lake Tahoe telecommute to their jobs. Overall, about 15.45% 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.

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.

One of the benefits of South Lake Tahoe is that there is very little traffic. The average commute to work is 16.57 minutes, which is substantially less than the national average. Not only does this mean that the drive to work is less aggravating, but noise and pollution levels are lower as a result.

The citizens of South Lake Tahoe are very well educated compared to the average community in the nation: 35.86% of adults in South Lake Tahoe have a bachelor's degree or even advanced degree.

The per capita income in South Lake Tahoe in 2022 was $56,022, which is upper middle income relative to California, and wealthy relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $224,088 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 26.08% of the city’s residents. Important ancestries of people in South Lake Tahoe include German, Irish, English, Italian, and French.

Foreign born people are also an important part of South Lake Tahoe's cultural character, accounting for 19.24% of the city’s population.

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