San Luis Obispo County, CA jobs, unemployment and layoffs

San Luis Obispo County’s unemployment rate is 4.6%. Employers filed 1 layoff notices here in the last 12 months. 84 open professional jobs are in its cities.

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San Luis Obispo County economy

  • 4.6%

    unemployment, Sep 2026

    4.7% the month before

  • 133,280

    in the labor force

    Source: BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics

  • 281,486

    people in San Luis Obispo County

    Source: U.S. Census Bureau

  • $93,398

    median household income

    Source: Census ACS

  • 42%

    of workers in white-collar occupations

    Management, business, financial and professional; Census ACS

Where San Luis Obispo County ranks

Where San Luis Obispo County placed in our monthly rankings, month by month. Each month stays online at its own address.

San Luis Obispo County outlook: Steady

Built from public Bureau of Labor Statistics and Census figures. It describes the area, not any one employer in it.

  • Private-sector jobs up 1.6% from 2022 to 2025
  • Population up 0.0% from 2020 to 2025
  • Unemployment 4.6%, down 0.1 points from a year ago
  • Sectors adding the most jobs: health care (+1,983 jobs), hotels & food (+572 jobs)
  • Sectors losing the most jobs: retail (−405 jobs), private education (−368 jobs)

Local job-market news

Recent headlines about layoffs, AI and jobs in San Luis Obispo County. Each link goes to the publisher.

Learn and get funded in San Luis Obispo County

San Luis Obispo County layoffs

  • 1

    Layoff notices, last 12 months

  • 82

    workers named

    A floor: states may leave out counts

  • 1

    employer

Layoff notices filed in San Luis Obispo County, newest first
Notice dateEmployerCity or countyWorkersTypeSource
Ventana GrillTakes effect Sep 18, 2026San Luis Obispo County82Closure TemporaryState record

All layoff notices in the state

Employers hiring most in San Luis Obispo County

Employers with the most open professional roles in this county’s cities. The county is taken from each job’s city, so roles with no city are not counted.

  1. Zone 5 Technologies23 open roles
  2. BKF Engineers4 open roles
  3. Entegris4 open roles
  4. Suffolk Construction Company4 open roles
  5. Adventist Health2 open roles
  6. Confidential2 open roles
  7. Inspired Flight Technologies2 open roles
  8. Memorial Medical Center2 open roles
  9. Pacific Gas & Electric2 open roles
  10. Rantec Power Systems2 open roles

Largest employers headquartered in San Luis Obispo County

  • California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo1,001–5,000 employees

Employee counts with a year are published figures (Wikidata). Other sizes are estimates from our company directory, not payroll counts.

Colleges in San Luis Obispo County

Colleges in San Luis Obispo County
CollegeCityTypeStudents
California Polytechnic State University-San Luis ObispoSan Luis ObispoPublic 4-year20,000+

Workforce development and job centers

The public workforce board and American Job Centers serving San Luis Obispo County. They offer free help with job search, training and filing for benefits.

Laid off in California? How to file for unemployment in California (steps, weekly amount and the appeal deadline).

  • SLO Cal Career-San Luis Obispo

    San Luis Obispo · Comprehensive · 805-439-2557

    Monday - Friday 8:00am - 5:00pm

Cities in San Luis Obispo County

Other California counties

All of California

Laid off or looking for work in San Luis Obispo County?

See what to do first and the jobs open near you.

See your options after a layoff

Sources: Census Bureau and BLS (county unemployment is not seasonally adjusted); layoff notices from California’s published record; job counts from our live job board; IPEDS for colleges; CareerOneStop for workforce boards and job centers. California unemployment benefits and severance rules.

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