# San Luis Obispo, California — #2,811 of 3,144 counties

> Liberty Moving composite score 4.99 of 10. FIPS 06079. Population 281,639. v4 — beta, 30 October 2026, sourced values.

About 281,600 people live in San Luis Obispo, California. It ranks #2,811 of 3,144 counties for liberty, and #14 of 58 in California. The combined sales tax is 7.25%, higher than in 71% of counties. Property tax takes about 0.64% of a home's value each year, less than in 60% of counties. Local government employs a larger share of working residents than in 58% of counties. The homicide rate is lower than in 56% of counties. Life expectancy is at least 80 years, longer than in 91% of counties. Air quality is worse than in 90% of counties (a typical day's air quality index is 49), and flood and hurricane risk is higher than in 94% of counties. On this site's state scores, California gets 4.79 of 10 for economic freedom, based on the Fraser Institute's ranking, and 1 of 10 for gun rights.

## Scores

| Factor | Level | Score (0–10) | Flag |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fraser Institute state ranking | state | 4.79 |  |
| 2A | state | 1.00 |  |
| Air quality | county | 5.13 |  |
| GOP + LP vote for President | county | 4.37 |  |
| Homicide rate | county | 8.82 |  |
| Sales tax | county | 3.41 |  |
| Property tax | county | 6.80 |  |
| Floods / hurricanes | county | 0.33 |  |
| Life expectancy | county | 10.00 |  |
| Government employees | county | 4.02 |  |
| Single-parent households | county | 7.19 |  |

"est" marks a derived or placeholder value with no published county figure.

## Neighbors

- #3029 Kings, California — https://libertymoving.org/counties/06031.md
- #2953 Santa Barbara, California — https://libertymoving.org/counties/06083.md
- #2912 Monterey, California — https://libertymoving.org/counties/06053.md
- #3131 Kern, California — https://libertymoving.org/counties/06029.md

## Links

- Page: https://libertymoving.org/counties/06079
- Compare: https://libertymoving.org/compare?a=06079
- Methodology: https://libertymoving.org/methodology
- Sources and terms: https://libertymoving.org/privacy