For many decades now, San Diego has been a military town, and there are no signs that it will never not be.
While our city and county are known for great weather, great beaches and great views, a new report from the U.S Defense Department shows how great an impact the military has on our region.
The report says San Diego County had the nation’s largest defense industry workforce in 2023 with about 113,00 people. That includes sailors and Marines, civilian ship repair workers and design engineers who build state of the art military drones.
The San Diego Union Tribune reports that there are more than 80,000 active duty personnel, almost 1,000 National Guard, nearly 8,000 reservists and more than 23,000 civilian defense employees.
And the Pentagon’s report says San Diego is #1 in payroll spending ahead of Honolulu and Norfolk Virginia.
In other words, San Diego is critically important to our nation’s defense.
And we also greatly benefit from the more than $18 billion dollars in defense department spending that goes into our local economy.
And even more importantly than that, we are home to some of the braves and finest Americans, who serve and work to defend our country and who help defend others in trouble spots around the world.
They are the ones who make San Diego America’s Finest City.
(Photo Getty Images)
Photo: U.S. Navy via Getty Images