San Diegoruns on a handful of strong industries. If you’re job-hunting or weighing a move, here’s where the opportunities (and the big-name employers) are.
Top industries & employers
Biotech & genomics
Illumina, Thermo Fisher, Bristol Myers Squibb, Genentech, Neurocrine
Torrey Pines and Sorrento Valley form one of the three largest biotech clusters in the United States, built around Illumina and the Salk and Scripps institutes.
Defence & military
US Navy, General Atomics, Northrop Grumman, BAE Systems
The largest concentration of naval power in the world sits here, and the defence contractors around it are a major employer — though most roles need clearance and citizenship.
Wireless & semiconductors
Qualcomm, Viasat, Teradata, Cubic
Qualcomm invented much of modern mobile telephony here and remains the city's defining technology company.
Cross-border manufacturing
Maquiladora operations in Tijuana with San Diego management
A genuinely binational industry: engineering and management on the US side, manufacturing in Tijuana, with people and goods crossing daily. Medical devices and electronics dominate.
Tourism & hospitality
SeaWorld, the San Diego Zoo, Hilton, Marriott
The county's largest employer by headcount, driven by 35 million annual visitors and a convention centre that hosts Comic-Con.
Higher education & research
UC San Diego, Salk Institute, Scripps Research, SDSU
UC San Diego is one of the top public research universities in the world and the reason the biotech cluster exists.
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