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Thursday, August 6, 2026

El Cajon vs La Mesa

El Cajon, CA compared with La Mesa, CA · 4 miles apart

El Cajon has 101,755 residents to La Mesa’s 59,914. El Cajon comes out ahead on median rent. La Mesa does better on median household income, homeownership, average commute.

El Cajon, CA La Mesa, CA
Population 101,755 59,914
Density (per sq mi) 7,013 6,590
Median household income $67,511 $95,028
Median home value $681,700 $812,000
Median rent $1,856 $2,049
Homeownership 41.5% 47.7%
Average commute 24.8 min 23.8 min
Median age 36.1 37.4
Bachelor's degree + 23% 40.6%
Poverty rate 20.5% 11.5%
Unemployment 9.6% 6.2%
Price to income 10.1× 8.5×

Highlighted where one city is clearly better on that measure. Population, density, home value and median age carry no highlight — a higher number there is good or bad depending on what you want.

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