Santa Cruz.
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Fair Housing. Race, ethnicity, language, national origin, income, disability, household makeup, commute and vehicle access, home tenure, and similar characteristics shown anywhere in this report are descriptive context only — never used to rate, score, or rank a place. Using protected-class characteristics to evaluate a neighborhood may violate the Fair Housing Act.
California·Santa Cruz County
14 tracts·61K people·$1.2M median·4,784/mi²
White 60 · Hispanic 22 · Asian 10 · Multiracial 5 · Black 2 · Other 1
Married couple 37 · Other 34 · Living alone 29
Santa Cruz 30 · San Jose 7 · San Francisco 4 · Live Oak 4 · Watsonville 3 · Elsewhere 52
Health 30 · Retail 18 · Leisure 17 · Professional 16 · Manufacturing 11 · Public admin 4 · Other 4
Management · business · science · arts 57 · Service 17 · Sales · office 16 · Production · transport 5 · Construction · maintenance 4
Drive alone 51 · Work from home 23 · Carpool 12 · Walk 11 · Transit 5 · Bike 5
Rep-tract reading · same station-interpolated source as address reports
Rep-tract reading · FEMA National Risk Index, national ranks 0–100; the tick is the national median
Showing up to 10 schools per level · School assignment depends on the exact address; open a neighborhood or address report to see your assigned schools.
The median home value in Santa Cruz is $1,209,000 (Census ACS) — 2.6× the US median of $458,812.
Santa Cruz has 61,607 residents across 14 census tracts and 10 named neighborhoods (Census ACS).
The median age is 31.1; the population is 59.6% White, 22.4% Hispanic or Latino, 9.8% Asian, 5.5% Multiracial, 1.5% Black and 1.2% Other; the average household has 2.3 people; 57.6% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher; the poverty rate is 17.0% (Census ACS).
Westlake Elementary (69%), Santa Cruz City Elementary Alternative Education-Monarch (55%) and De Laveaga Elementary (51%) lead the elementary schools; Mission Hill Middle (45%) and Branciforte Middle (42%) lead the middle schools; Pacific Collegiate Charter (77%), Santa Cruz High (67%) and Harbor High (41%) lead the high schools. Average of ELA and math proficiency (state DOE / NCES).
Median gross rent is $2,452/month, 55% above the US median (Census ACS).
The median household income in Santa Cruz is $115,475 a year, 34% above the US median (Census ACS).
In Santa Cruz, median rent is $2,452/month and the median home value is $1,209,000 (Census ACS).
Santa Cruz reported 6.7 violent crimes and 24.4 property crimes per 1,000 residents (FBI UCR, 2023).
Summer highs average 71°F; winter lows average 42°F; there are 206 comfortable days a year; annual precipitation is 30 inches (NOAA GridMET).
The highest-rated natural hazards in Santa Cruz are earthquake (90), landslide (86) and wildfire (82), scored 0–100 against all US communities (FEMA National Risk Index). Peak ground shaking is 0.80g (USGS; 2% chance in 50 years).
Santa Cruz scores 13.9 out of 20 on the EPA National Walkability Index, vs a US average of 12.3; 10.6% of workers walk to work (EPA Smart Location Database; Census ACS).