Watsonville

Population & Demographics

Watsonville, CA

Watsonville is home to 51,712 people. Explore its demographics, housing, and economy — plus how its 22,143 resident workers commute each day.

CaliforniaCensus ACS 5-Year · LODES 2023
51,712
people
Population

51,712 residents

Median age 33.8 · U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year (2024).

Watsonville population & demographics

Who lives in Watsonville — population, age, housing, and income, from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Population
51,712
Median age
33.8yrs
Median household income
$78,393
Median home value
$686,000
Median gross rent
$1,889/mo
Bachelor’s degree or higher
12.4%
Poverty rate
14.7%

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS) 2024 5-Year Estimates. Values shown as “—” are suppressed or unavailable for this place.

Race & ethnicity in Watsonville

How Watsonville breaks down by race and ethnicity — each bar is that group’s share of the population, from the U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year (2024).

Hispanic or Latino82.3%
White12.7%
Asian2.5%
Two or more races1.4%
Some other race0.6%
Black0.4%
American Indian / Alaska Native0.1%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander0.0%

Race across Watsonville

Each dot is a group of people, placed in their 2020 Census block and colored by race or ethnicity — the pattern shows where groups live across Watsonville.

Watsonville at a glance
Employed Residents
22,143
Fewer than the city’s total population
Median home–work distance
16.0mi
Straight-line, not road distance
Work Locally
22.6%
Share working within the area
Work from home
6.4%
Residents who work from home (ACS)
Top destination outside city
Santa Cruz
Excludes local — most work in-city

These figures are for Watsonville proper — the Census place within its city limits — not the surrounding metro area. Metro-wide totals you’ll see elsewhere are larger because they bundle in neighboring cities and suburbs.

How Watsonville commutes

Every dot is a worker moving between home and job. Trace where the area pulls people in from — and where its residents head each day.

54
Commute Score

54 / 100

How short the typical commute is here, on an absolute 0–100 scale (higher is shorter). How it’s calculated.

Watsonville

22,143 commutes, one dot at a time

Watsonville

Where 22,143 workers commute

Each dot ≈ 75 workers

Where residents work

Top destinations for people who live in Watsonville, by worker count.

1Watsonville0.0 mi4,994
2Santa Cruz15.0 mi1,837
3San Jose27.4 mi1,662
4Live Oak12.7 mi879
5Salinas17.6 mi618
6Capitola11.2 mi498
7San Francisco68.7 mi485
8Scotts Valley16.6 mi400

Who commutes in

Top origin places for workers who travel into Watsonville.

1Watsonville0.0 mi4,994
2Salinas17.6 mi1,152
3Interlaken2.3 mi647
4Santa Cruz15.0 mi582
5Prunedale9.9 mi555
6Hollister20.9 mi448
7San Jose27.4 mi417
8Freedom2.0 mi327

Top industries

The sectors that employ Watsonville’s workforce. Each bar is scaled to that sector’s share of all local jobs — the top sectors shown don’t add up to 100%.

Bar length = each sector’s share of all local jobs (0–100%)
HCHealth Care and Social Assistance18.0%
EDEducational Services10.7%
RTRetail Trade10.1%
MFManufacturing10.0%
AGAgriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting8.7%
AFAccommodation and Food Services8.2%
WSWholesale Trade5.7%
MGManagement of Companies and Enterprises5.0%
COConstruction4.2%
Connectivity

Internet options for Watsonville

The biggest home-internet providers in the area — tap any to compare local plans.

6 providers · 2 with fiber
Speed availabilityshare of homes a plan reaches
1 Gbps~all homes
2 Gbps92%
5 Gbps92%
8 Gbps
See all internet providers in Watsonville

FindBetterInternet is a CensusFlow partner site — we link out so you can compare local plans, and CensusFlow’s Census data stays independent. Provider data is from the FCC National Broadband Map (satellite + fixed wireless excluded).