USN Facts

Having military personnel and commands in San Diego is no small gesture — as the Department of Defense brings about $9.6 billion annually into the county. Much of that money comes from the large U.S. Navy presence in the area. Sixty-nine Navy ships call San Diego home — nearly one-sixth of the Navy’s entire fleet and about one-third of the U.S. Pacific Fleet. Close to 90,000 Navy personnel live in San Diego County with about 87 percent of the military population being male and about 13 percent female. Of the Navy personnel in San Diego, close to 40,000 are married and the total U.S. Navy family member count is 129,000. There are another 57,900 retired military personnel in San Diego County, just over 35,000 Marine Corps personnel and 22,500 Department of Defense civilian personnel. Most of the Navy personnel in San Diego are attached to ashore commands in San Diego.

Navy housing is at a premium in San Diego due to the large number of personnel and limited amount of military housing in the county. On average, there are about 5,000 families at any given time on the military housing list with an average wait of about 18 months. However, San Diego does have the largest housing complex in the Navy and Commander Naval Base, the lead command for military housing in San Diego, has several housing units currently planned or under construction with many other military housing units undergoing renovation. About $138 million is allotted for military housing replacement units in San Diego from fiscal year ’96 through fiscal year ’99.