2024 population: 262,406 ( 9,734 from 2020)
Land area: 445.1 square miles
Population density: 589.5 persons per square mile

2024 Census data
White:	143,107	54.54%	6.1%
Black:	2,656	1.01%	3.0%
Indian:	1,035	0.39%	2.6%
Asian:	13,816	5.27%	6.2%
2+ races:	8,514	3.24%	2.5%
Hispanic:	93,278	35.55%	1.5%

Total non-White:	119,299	45.46%	0.4%

2020-2024 Components	Number	Rate
Births:	9,396	8.6
Deaths:	8,321	7.6
Net Migration:	-13,489	-12.4
Net Immigration:	2,978	2.7

Change in White population:	-9,266	-3.4
Change in Non-White pop.:	-468	-0.2

Race Breakdown with Components of Population Change

[Display all years]

Year:

Total population:

White:

Black:

Indian:

Asian:

2+ races:

Hispanic:

Total non-White:

2020
272,140
152,373	55.99%
2,738	1.01%
1,063	0.39%
13,011	4.78%
8,304	3.05%
94,651	34.78%
119,767	44.01%

2010
262,382
156,397	59.61%
2,304	0.88%
978	0.37%
10,950	4.17%
7,049	2.69%
84,092	32.05%
105,985	40.39%

2000
255,602
167,464	65.52%
2,160	0.85%
1,180	0.46%
8,775	3.43%
6,679	2.61%
68,486	26.79%
88,138	34.48%

1990
229,734
171,959	74.85%
2,101	0.91%
1,306	0.57%
8,541	3.72%
n/a
45,827	19.95%
57,775	25.15%

1980
188,141
152,637	81.13%
1,454	0.77%
986	0.52%
5,210	2.77%
n/a
27,523	14.63%
35,504	18.87%

1970
123,790
104,414	84.35%
725	0.59%
318	0.26%
2,760	2.23%
n/a
14,648	11.83%
19,376	15.65%

Decade:

Components:

Births:

Deaths:

Net Migration:

Net Immigration:

Change in White population:

Change in Non-White pop.:

Number	Rate
2010's
26,748	10.2
16,166	6.2
-1,376	-0.5
1,760	0.7

-4,024	-1.5
13,782	5.3

Number	Rate
2000's
32,171	12.6
15,045	5.9
-25,431	-9.9
10,047	3.9

-11,067	-4.3
17,847	7.0

Number	Rate
1990's
37,113	16.2
16,854	7.3
-17,924	-7.8
15,229	6.6

-4,495	-2.0
30,363	13.2

Number	Rate
1980's
35,921	19.1
17,068	9.1
24,232	12.9
n/a

19,322	10.3
22,271	11.8

Number	Rate
1970's
n/a
n/a
56,425	45.6
n/a

48,223	39.0
16,128	13.0

Age, Family & Household Data for Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA Metro Area

[Display all years]

Year:

Median Age:

Under 18:

Voting Age Population:

Over 65:

Households:

Persons Per HH:

Families (%HH):

Married Couples (%Fams):

Single Mothers (%Fams):

Non-Family (%HH):

2022
Number	Percent
39.2
50,320	19.2%
212,086	80.8%
47,668	18.2%

96,487
2.64

61,034	63.3%
46,417	76.1%
4,419	7.2%
35,453	36.7%

2010
Number	Percent
36.9
55,418	21.1%
206,964	78.9%
29,158	11.1%

94,355
2.66

57,770	61.2%
43,334	75.0%
5,349	9.3%
36,585	38.8%

2000
Number	Percent
35.2
60,435	23.6%
195,167	76.4%
25,308	9.9%

91,244
2.70

57,858	63.4%
44,106	76.2%
5,784	10.0%
33,386	36.6%

1990
Number	Percent
33.2
54,395	23.7%
175,339	76.3%
26,090	11.4%

84,017
2.65

54,663	65.1%
44,125	80.7%
4,693	8.6%
29,354	34.9%

1980
Number	Percent
30.8
45,271	24.1%
142,870	75.9%
24,779	13.2%

71,958
2.53

46,946	65.2%
38,763	82.6%
4,111	8.8%
25,012	34.8%

2022 Housing Data for Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA Metro Area

Household Income
Range	Number	%
Less than $10,000	3,752	3.9%
$10,000 to $14,999	2,715	2.8%
$15,000 to $19,999	2,506	2.6%
$20,000 to $24,999	2,664	2.8%
$25,000 to $29,999	2,382	2.5%
$30,000 to $34,999	2,556	2.6%
$35,000 to $39,999	2,362	2.4%
$40,000 to $44,999	2,703	2.8%
$45,000 to $49,999	2,310	2.4%
$50,000 to $59,999	4,623	4.8%
$60,000 to $74,999	6,464	6.7%
$75,000 to $99,999	11,440	11.9%
$100,000 to $124,999	9,460	9.8%
$125,000 to $149,999	6,793	7.0%
$150,000 to $199,999	12,162	12.6%
$200,000 or more	21,595	22.4%

Median Household Income	104,409
Per Capita Income	52,887

Cost of Living Index (100 = average)
Compared to U.S.	168

Welfare Households
	Number	%
SSI	5,060	5.2%
Public Assistance	2,590	2.7%
Public Asst. or Food Stamps	10,050	10.4%

Labor Force, Ages 25-64
	Number	%
Employed	81,122	70.2%
Unemployed	4,436	3.8%
In Armed Forces	43	0.0%

Total Labor Force	85,601	74.1%
Not in Labor Force	29,883	25.9%

Real Unemployment Rate		29.7%

Class of Worker
	Male	Female	% Male
Private Sector	47,168	34,861	57.5%
Non-Profit	4,720	7,106	39.9%
Self-Employed	9,879	8,498	53.8%

Local Government	5,695	7,095	44.5%
State Government	3,121	4,014	43.7%
Federal Government	1,033	576	64.2%

Total Private + Self	57,047	43,359	56.8%
Total Non-Profit + Govt.	14,569	18,791	43.7%
Total	71,616	62,150	53.5%

Pct. Govt.	16.1%

Occupation
	Number	%
Management, Business, Science, Arts	25,345	18.9%
Sales and Office Occupations	24,129	18.0%
Professional, Technical	37,288	27.8%
Service Occupations	22,468	16.8%
Farming, Forestry, Fishing	4,278	3.2%
All others	24,874	18.5%

White Collar		64.7%

Industry
	Number	%
Educational services	16,821	12.5%
Health care and social assistance	15,729	11.7%
Retail trade	13,874	10.3%
Professional, scientific, technical	13,525	10.1%
Manufacturing	11,235	8.4%
Accommodation and food services	9,844	7.3%
Construction	9,517	7.1%
Agriculture, forestry, fishing, hunting	6,008	4.5%
Other services	5,963	4.4%
Administrative, support, waste mgmt.	5,199	3.9%
Public administration	4,918	3.7%
Transportation and warehousing	4,426	3.3%
Arts, entertainment, recreation	3,938	2.9%
Information	3,161	2.4%
Finance and insurance	3,051	2.3%
Wholesale trade	2,977	2.2%
Real estate and rental and leasing	2,693	2.0%
Utilities	1,140	0.9%
Management	80	0.1%
Mining, quarrying, oil/gas extraction	5	0.0%

Hispanic Breakdown
Country	Number	%
Mexican	80,806	30.09%
Puerto Rican	1,029	0.38%
Cuban	690	0.26%
Dominican	56	0.02%

Total Central American	3,264	1.22%
Costa Rican	120	0.04%
Guatemalan	582	0.22%
Honduran	147	0.05%
Nicaraguan	370	0.14%
Panamanian	174	0.06%
Salvadoran	1,817	0.68%
Other Central American	54	0.02%

Total South American	1,447	0.54%
Argentinean	251	0.09%
Bolivian	17	0.01%
Chilean	196	0.07%
Colombian	222	0.08%
Ecuadorian	114	0.04%
Paraguayan	0	0.00%
Peruvian	466	0.17%
Uruguayan	26	0.01%
Venezuelan	155	0.06%
Other South American	0	0.00%

Other Hispanic	4,631	1.72%

Asian Breakdown
Country	Number	%
Chinese	3,810	1.42%
Filipino	2,414	0.90%
Indian	1,996	0.74%
Japanese	1,690	0.63%
Korean	844	0.31%
Vietnamese	625	0.23%
Taiwanese	295	0.11%
Thai	140	0.05%
Cambodian	117	0.04%

Language Spoken at Home
Language	Number	%
English	172,779	67.4%
Spanish	65,578	25.6%
Other Indo-European	4,218	1.6%
Chinese	3,140	1.2%
Other Asian	2,154	0.8%
German, other Germanic	2,134	0.8%
Russian, Polish, other Slavic	1,290	0.5%
Arabic	1,085	0.4%
French, Haitian, Cajun	975	0.4%

Ancestry
Country	Number	%
German	28,752	10.7%
English	28,428	10.6%
Irish	27,552	10.3%
Italian	16,171	6.0%
European	7,537	2.8%
Scottish	6,205	2.3%
American	6,204	2.3%
French	5,795	2.2%
Norwegian	4,709	1.8%
Polish	4,648	1.7%
Swedish	4,517	1.7%
Portuguese	3,808	1.4%
Dutch	3,732	1.4%
Russian	3,212	1.2%
British	2,926	1.1%

Citizenship & Nativity
	Number	%
U.S. citizen	242,944	90.5%
Not a citizen	25,627	9.5%

Native	221,848	82.6%
Foreign-born	46,723	17.4%

Educational Attainment, Population 25 Years and Older
12,950	7.2%	7,391	4.1%	28,468	15.8%	54,825	30.4%	44,286	24.6%	32,251	17.9%
Average years of education: 13.8

Population 25 Years and Older
< 9 Years	12,950	7.2%
9-12 Years	7,391	4.1%
H.S. Grad or GED	28,468	15.8%
Some College	54,825	30.4%
Bach. Degree	44,286	24.6%
Grad Degree	32,251	17.9%
Average years of education: 13.8

Labor Force Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics
Year	Labor Force	Employed	Unemployed	Unemp. Rate	State Avg.
1990	271,284	251,814	19,470	7.2%
1991	275,084	250,442	24,642	9.0%
1992	277,934	250,842	27,092	9.7%
1993	280,688	251,280	29,408	10.5%
1994	281,428	253,646	27,782	9.9%
1995	277,464	251,714	25,750	9.3%
1996	275,974	252,234	23,740	8.6%
1997	281,402	259,158	22,244	7.9%
1998	281,118	260,470	20,648	7.3%
1999	278,076	260,288	17,788	6.4%

2000	296,522	281,540	14,982	5.1%
2001	299,902	282,648	17,254	5.8%
2002	294,898	272,942	21,956	7.4%
2003	288,364	265,806	22,558	7.8%
2004	286,876	266,734	20,142	7.0%
2005	286,036	268,130	17,906	6.3%
2006	286,564	270,426	16,138	5.6%
2007	289,794	272,848	16,946	5.8%
2008	292,376	270,766	21,610	7.4%
2009	296,844	262,576	34,268	11.5%

2010	283,746	245,118	38,628	13.6%
2011	282,294	244,764	37,530	13.3%
2012	283,602	249,512	34,090	12.0%
2013	283,182	253,720	29,462	10.4%
2014	284,096	258,938	25,158	8.9%
2015	286,454	264,868	21,586	7.5%
2016	287,528	267,460	20,068	7.0%
2017	285,400	269,028	16,372	5.7%
2018	282,566	268,396	14,170	5.0%
2019	282,204	268,200	14,004	5.0%

2020	267,292	241,864	25,428	9.5%
2021	266,248	247,804	18,444	6.9%
2022	268,350	255,574	12,776	4.8%
2023	266,434	251,140	15,294	5.7%
2024	272,190	256,038	16,152	5.9%

Housing Data
	Number	%
Housing Units	106,433
Median Value	$951,300

Occupied	96,487	90.7%
Vacant	9,946	9.3%

Owned	57,852	60.0%
Rented	38,635	40.0%
Median Rent	$2,094

Single-Family Units	77,154	72.5%
Detached	68,087	64.0%
Attached	9,067	8.5%
Buldings with 5+ Units	13,169	12.4%
Mobile Homes	6,744	6.3%

Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA Metro Area

Race Breakdown with Components of Population Change

Age, Family & Household Data for Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA Metro Area

2022 Housing Data for Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA Metro Area

2022 Income & Employment Data for Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA Metro Area

2022 Ancestry, Citizenship & Language Data for Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA Metro Area

2022 Educational Attainment Data for Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA Metro Area

Historical Labor Force Data for Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA Metro Area