SAN DIEGO—San Diego is a hotbed for biotech, defense and engineering companies and offers an endless amount of activities Millennials enjoy doing, so they're willing to pay the high cost of living here, JLL senior research analyst Patrick Ashton tells GlobeSt.com. According to a recent report from the firm, ESRI and BLS, nearly one-third of San Diego's population is a Millennial, defined as ranging from ages 18 to 34. Of the nation's largest cities, San Diego has the second-biggest Millennial share with more than 1 million.

The report also states that San Diego young working professionals are largely responsible for San Diego's population growth of 7.5% from 2010 to 2017. During this time period, the county added 160,000 jobs, with 2017 having the lowest unemployment rate in this market in 10 years at below 4%. Many of the working Millennials are highly concentrated in the urban live/work/play neighborhoods; between the ages of 18 and 34, working Millennials currently have a 40% share of Downtown residents.

The city's top universities have also been a major factor in the growing Millennial population. According to the report, campus-enrollment numbers for UC San Diego have grown over 33% in the last 10 years.​