Spring Valley

The 2020 census counted 30,998 people in Spring Valley, up from 28,205 in 2010. The population density in 2020 was 4,221.9 people per square mile (1,630.1 per km2).

The community uses ZIP codes 91977 and 91978, and the area code is 619. It is in the Pacific time zone.

The community is named for a natural spring. The Kumeyaay people, who called the site Neti or Meti, lived in the area for a long time. Spanish settlers used the land for cattle and called the spring El aguaje de San Jorge, or St. George's Spring.

In 1863, Judge A. S. Ensworth of San Diego claimed a 160-acre ranch that included the spring and built a small adobe house on it. The ranch was later sold to Rufus King Porter and then to the historian Hubert Howe Bancroft. The adobe house is now a National Historic Landmark.

The boundaries have changed over time. From 1970 through 1990, Spring Valley included what is now the La Presa census area to the south. People there still often think of themselves as part of Spring Valley. The Casa de Oro neighborhood to the north is in the Casa de Oro-Mount Helix census area but is sometimes counted as Spring Valley too.

Spring Valley was listed as an unincorporated place in the 1970 census and became a census-designated place in 1980. Part of Spring Valley was once land owned by rancher Robert Allison, who also owned the land that became Lemon Grove and La Mesa.

The nearest San Diego Trolley stops are in neighboring La Mesa and Lemon Grove. La Mesa has four Orange Line stations, and Lemon Grove has two. State Routes 94 and 125 serve both of those cities.

The Metropolitan Transit System runs buses across the San Diego area.

The La Mesa-Spring Valley School District runs the public elementary and middle schools. This is the same district that serves most of La Mesa, and its schools there include Parkway Sports and Health Sciences Academy and La Mesa Arts Academy.

The Grossmont Union High School District provides public high school education. Steele Canyon High School is the local high school.

Spring Valley is one of several East County communities that grew from the same early ranch land. El Cajon borders it to the north, and La Mesa lists Spring Valley as a neighbor to its south.

Because Spring Valley is unincorporated, it appears in the census as a place rather than as a city.