• Population: 54,977
• Population 18 years and older: 38,979
• Median Age: 32.1
• Housing Units: 18,111
• Family Households: 13,221
• Average Household Size: 3.03
• Average Annual Household Income: $45,908

• 75.1% of persons 25 and over completed high school

• 20.0% of persons 25 and over have Bachelor's degree or higher

• 5.8% of persons 25 and over have Graduate or professional degree

According to historical legends, the San Luis Rey Mission flocks were robbed by a small band of Indians in the late 1700s.  Fleeing the Spanish troops, the Indians escaped to the hills.  While pursuing the Indians, the Spaniards came upon a fertile valley in 1797 which was named Los Vallecitos de San Marcos (Little Valleys of Saint Mark) to honor the day of discovery:  April 25th, "St. Mark´s Day".
On April 22, 1840 Governor Juan Bautista Alvarado granted Los Vallecitos de San Marcos to his relative, Jose Mario Alvarado.  In 1846 Indians killed Jose Alvarado and the land was left to his wife; she then sold the land to Lorenzo Soto.  In the late 1850s, Soto sold part of his land to Cave Couts and his family was soon raising livestock.  Although Cave Couts owned the land, Major Gustavus French Merriam from Topeka, Kansas made the first permanent settlement.  Merriam homesteaded 160 acres in the north Twin Oaks Valley and began wine and honey production.
German and Dutch immigrants began moving into the area in the early 1880s.  Then in 1883 a few miles south of the settlement, John H. Barham founded the first town in the area, aptly naming it Barham.  By 1884, the Town of Barham had a post office, blacksmith, feed store and a weekly newspaper.  In 1887 the San Marcos Land Company bought almost all of the San Marcos land formerly owned by the Couts family and promptly divided the land into tracts.  Soon the beautiful hills began attracting home-seekers.
By 1896, San Marcos was a community with its own stores, post office, blacksmith and railroad depot. In 1905, the town had every convenience, including rural mail delivery and telephone service.  The first school in the area, which had started in Barham in 1880, was moved in 1889 to San Marcos.  Later that same year, the Richland School was built, being the second school in San Marcos.  The main business in San Marcos in the 1800s and early 1900s was farming.  Then in the mid-1900s, dairies and poultry production became a big part of the business in the town. 
After the arrival of water from the Colorado River in 1956, several small businesses began and the population rapidly increased to 2500.  The City became incorporated on January 28, 1963.  Through the 1960s the City grew by a few thousand new residents, but in the 1970s, San Marcos was flourishing as the third fastest growing city in the state with a population of 17,479 by 1980.  During the 1980s, San Marcos almost doubled its population to 33,800, and growth has continued to boom to the present population of 67,426 (unofficial census count).

The La Costa Resort & Spa consists of two world-class 18-hole golf courses and 19 tennis courts, resort hotel and condominium units, and related retail businesses. Torrey Pines Golf Course Legoland San Diego Zoo San Diego Wild Animal Park Sea World