San Diego ADU Permits by Neighborhood
City of San Diego permit data · Jan 1, 2023 to Oct 27, 2026 · Updated 2026-10-28
From January 1, 2023 through October 27, 2026, the City of San Diego issued 5,395 building permits that add backyard homes, covering 7,510 units: 6,966 ADUs and 544 junior ADUs. Clairemont Mesa led every community planning area with 843 units.
This study counts the City's own permit records by year and neighborhood. A permit authorizes construction; it does not show that a unit was finished.
What the permits show
- Permitted units rose from 1,540 in 2023 to 2,022 in 2025. 2026 had 1,870 through October 27.
- More permits add several units at once: 18% of permits added two or more units in 2023, against 30% in 2026. The largest single permit added 36 units.
- Bonus-program ADUs went from 42 in 2023 to 337 in 2025, and 343 so far in 2026.
- 957 ADUs carry an income restriction, 846 of them for moderate-income households.
- Five planning areas account for 39% of all units: Clairemont Mesa, Southeastern San Diego, Mid-City: City Heights, North Park, Linda Vista.
San Diego ADU permits by year
| Year | Permits | Units | ADUs | JADUs | Bonus ADUs | Income-restricted | Permits adding 2+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 1,229 | 1,540 | 1,391 | 149 | 42 | 59 | 18% |
| 2024 | 1,478 | 2,078 | 1,896 | 182 | 222 | 240 | 25% |
| 2025 | 1,426 | 2,022 | 1,919 | 103 | 337 | 330 | 26% |
| 2026 (through October 27) | 1,262 | 1,870 | 1,760 | 110 | 343 | 328 | 30% |
ADU permits by community planning area
The 20 planning areas with the most permitted units, placed by each permit's mapped location. In Linda Vista, 53% of permits added two or more units, the highest share among areas with at least 100 permits.
| Planning area | Units | Permits | Bonus ADUs | Income-restricted | Permits adding 2+ | Units in 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clairemont Mesa | 843 | 638 | 154 | 137 | 25% | 222 |
| Southeastern San Diego | 613 | 350 | 131 | 115 | 47% | 162 |
| Mid-City: City Heights | 542 | 366 | 71 | 68 | 34% | 204 |
| North Park | 532 | 316 | 58 | 46 | 35% | 119 |
| Linda Vista | 424 | 242 | 98 | 114 | 53% | 128 |
| College Area | 391 | 309 | 61 | 64 | 22% | 83 |
| Mid-City: Eastern Area | 372 | 302 | 31 | 46 | 21% | 115 |
| Pacific Beach | 367 | 267 | 25 | 21 | 21% | 116 |
| Encanto Neighborhoods | 363 | 259 | 58 | 66 | 29% | 86 |
| Mira Mesa | 329 | 289 | 26 | 33 | 11% | 83 |
| Uptown | 323 | 195 | 31 | 34 | 26% | 78 |
| Peninsula | 298 | 249 | 10 | 15 | 14% | 76 |
| Skyline-Paradise Hills | 292 | 213 | 57 | 50 | 16% | 46 |
| Mid-City: Normal Heights | 192 | 115 | 39 | 36 | 30% | 65 |
| Otay Mesa-Nestor | 185 | 148 | 7 | 16 | 20% | 62 |
| La Jolla | 178 | 169 | 1 | 1 | 5% | 53 |
| Greater Golden Hill | 176 | 102 | 27 | 24 | 36% | 37 |
| Navajo | 155 | 141 | 2 | 3 | 6% | 48 |
| Mid-City: Kensington-Talmadge | 144 | 97 | 14 | 12 | 20% | 36 |
| Serra Mesa | 130 | 109 | 8 | 9 | 17% | 24 |
The other 25 planning areas account for 661 units. Download all 45 areas as CSV, with units by year. Free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 with a link to this page.
How many units each permit adds
4,057 permits added a single unit and 1,128 added two, often an ADU with a junior ADU. 107 added three or four, 82 added five to nine, and 21 added ten or more. Projects with several units are where most bonus-program ADUs appear; the San Diego ADU rules guide explains the bonus program and its August 2025 changes.
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San Diego ADU permit questions, answered
How many ADUs has San Diego permitted?
From January 1, 2023 through October 27, 2026, the City of San Diego issued 5,395 building permits that add ADUs or junior ADUs, covering 7,510 units. 2025 alone accounted for 2,022 units.
Which San Diego neighborhoods permit the most ADUs?
Clairemont Mesa led every community planning area with 843 units, followed by Southeastern San Diego (613), Mid-City: City Heights (542), North Park (532), Linda Vista (424). Those five areas account for 39% of the units.
What is a bonus ADU in San Diego?
San Diego's bonus program lets an owner add a non-deed-restricted ADU for each qualifying affordable ADU they build, in designated areas. The City narrowed where it applies in August 2025. This study counts the units the City's permit data flags as bonus ADUs.
Does a permit mean the ADU was built?
No. A building permit authorizes construction; it does not show that the unit was finished. This study counts issued permits and leaves out any the City later recorded as cancelled or expired.
How this study counts permits
- Source: the City of San Diego's open development permit data (issued approvals), downloaded 2026-10-28.
- Counted: building and combination building permits whose ADU or JADU unit count is at least one, issued from 2023-01-01 through 2026-10-27, one row per permit. Unit counts start in the City file in 2022, so earlier years are left out.
- Left out: 406 permits the City later recorded as cancelled or expired, and 308 companion-unit permits recorded without a unit count.
- Planning areas: each permit's mapped location, matched to the City's community planning area boundaries. Every permit matched an area.
- Shares are shown only for groups of 10 or more permits. The study publishes totals only: no addresses, parcels or names.
- Totals will not match the City's own ADU dashboard, which uses its own counting rules. Not covered: whether units were finished, what they cost, and why some projects stall.
Related: ADU rent by county · San Diego ADU cost, rent and payback
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