PCSing To Camp Pendleton California - 5 Things You Need To Know
Camp Pendleton has been the largest employer in north San Diego county for more than 60 years. It is one of the department of defense's busiest installations and offers a broad spectrum of training facilities for many active and reserve marine, army, and navy units as well as national state and local agencies.
PCSing To Camp Pendleton California
1. Where is Camp Pendleton?
Camp Pendleton the Corps largest west coast expeditionary training facility encompasses more than 125 thousand acres of southern California. In reference to some big cities you may notice located approximately 38 miles from downtown San Diego in North County and 82 miles south of Los Angeles.
More than 38,000 military families occupy base housing complexes and many more living off post in surrounding communities such as Carlsbad, Escondido, Fallbrook, Oceanside, San Marcos, Temecula and Vista.
They all provide communities where you notice a heavy military presence of soldiers who decided to go live off post. Camp Pendleton enjoys sunny beautiful weather in Southern California!
2. What To Expect At Camp Pendleton
What to expect at camp pendleton is going to vary a lot depending on what unit you're with. Camp Pendleton is the hub of the marine corps operational forces and is the home to the first Marine division.
There's quite a few other supporting units including Marine Corps Air Station, and Camp Pendleton Recruit Training Depot. There’s also weapons and training battalion along with a number of Reserve Marine Corps and Army units. Depending on what unit you're assigned to you're likely going to be training or deployed a lot.
If you're with an inventory battalion or one of the muse, or if you're with one of the supporting units or training command, you'll likely spend a fair amount of time in garrison.
There are many training ranges and opportunities while stationed at Camp Pendleton. Additionally, you're only three and a half hours away from 29 Palms.
What's this mean to you if you're with an operational unit…expect to spend a lot of time in the field. If you're with a training unit or maybe a unit that doesn't deploy a lot or doesn't have a MOS that is very infantry heavy or supports the infantry you'll likely get to spend a lot of time at home.
3. What To Do Near Camp Pendleton
If you're a sports fan or a beach fan there's tons of things over there to do but during your time there 's some things that we think you should really check out. There are a lot of family-friendly things but also a lot of bars and things for you soldiers who like that type of environment.
When you're not at work close by you’ll have access to the pier, the harbor, and plenty of breweries. Breweries like South O, Bagby Beer Company, Brothers Stone, and so many more options.
If you have kids or you just love legos you can head over to Legoland in Carlsbad. Just a little further south you’ll have the San Diego Zoo.
If you love sports then you’ll have tons of opportunities to attend live games either in San Diego with the Padres or head north to LA and catch a game. There’s also tons of events like concerts, comedy shows, etc.
4. Deciding Whether To Live On Post Or Off Post
A major decision is whether you live on base or live off base. This decision is most likely going to be based on your priorities and your goals with your home. On base housing will be determined by availability of housing at the time you're PCSing.
If you’re considering Camp Pendleton on base housing we highly recommend checking to see if there is a waitlist. We do not work for nor are we associated with on base housing so our assistance is in a very limited capacity with that.
The upside to living on base is generally you're going to be quite a bit closer to work. However, a downside is you're not necessarily going to have much say in the house that you and your family live in. Your BAH is going to cover rent and utilities. Essentially you don’t see your BAH.
Living off base is a highly recommended option. You're going to want to consider what area has homes that fit in your price range and then also as a commute that you're comfortable with.
Areas you may want to consider when you're refining your search are going to be Oceanside, Carlsbad, Vista, Fallbrook and San Clemente. Some soldiers don’t mind a longer commute and decide to live in Temecula near north gate. Living off base is going to allow you the opportunity to potentially save some of your BAH or build equity in your own home.
5. Real Estate Market Near Camp Pendleton
When it comes to the local real estate market near Camp Pendleton there are several different areas like we mentioned above. First thing you may need to know is that California has a higher cost of living than most other states.
We’ll discuss median price of homes in some of the areas that were already mentioned and may notice military service members buying homes.
This data from Realtor.com encompasses condos, townhomes, and single family homes all into one. We always consider these 3 major factors. Size, location, and condition.
Oceanside, CA: The median listing home price for oceanside at the time of writing this blog is approximately $749,000. This all depends on whether you want to purchase a single-family home or condo closer to the beach.
Carlsbad, CA: The median listing home price is approximately $1.2 million. Again, that doesn't mean you're necessarily going to pay 1.2 million for a home. That's the median home price as at the time of writing this blog. if you hit the 78 and you had a little bit more inland towards Vista homes are more affordable.
Vista, CA: The median listing home price is approximately $790,000.
Murrieta, CA: Homes more inland in Murrieta may seem just a little bit more affordable at the median listing home price of $639,000. A little bit more of a commute to base but north gate is nearby. Some people don't mind that particular commute.
San Clemente, CA: Another beautiful area along the coast. The median listing home price is approximately $1.5 million. We talked about coastal homes being a little bit more expensive but again these are all market dependent. We're just giving you the information as it sits right now on Realtor.com and these of course fluctuate based on what's happening in the real estate market.
PCSing To Camp Pendleton
If you’re PCSing to Camp Pendleton California don’t hesitate to reach out. We talk to so many military service members just like you every single day and we absolutely love it! If you just received tentative orders or already have hard orders go ahead and schedule a call with us. Here’s our Calendar for you to book your call. Let us help make the move to Camp Pendleton less stressful.
