Santa Cruz

Population & Demographics

Santa Cruz, CA

Santa Cruz is home to 61,607 people. Explore its demographics, housing, and economy — plus how its 22,918 resident workers commute each day.

CaliforniaCensus ACS 5-Year · LODES 2023
61,607
people
Population

61,607 residents

Median age 31.1 · U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year (2024).

Santa Cruz population & demographics

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

Population
61,607
Median age
31.1yrs
Median household income
$115,475
Median home value
$1,209,000
Median gross rent
$2,452/mo
Bachelor’s degree or higher
57.6%
Poverty rate
17.0%

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 Santa Cruz

How Santa Cruz 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).

White59.6%
Hispanic or Latino22.4%
Asian9.8%
Two or more races5.5%
Black1.5%
Some other race1.0%
American Indian / Alaska Native0.1%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander0.1%

Race across Santa Cruz

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 Santa Cruz.

Santa Cruz at a glance
Employed Residents
22,918
Fewer than the city’s total population
Median home–work distance
24.6mi
Straight-line, not road distance
Work Locally
29.4%
Share working within the area
Work from home
22.2%
Residents who work from home (ACS)
Top destination outside city
San Jose
Excludes local — most work in-city

These figures are for Santa Cruz 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 Santa Cruz 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.

64
Commute Score

64 / 100

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

Santa Cruz

22,918 commutes, one dot at a time

Santa Cruz

Where 22,918 workers commute

Each dot ≈ 75 workers

Where residents work

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

1Santa Cruz0.0 mi6,746
2San Jose24.6 mi1,517
3Live Oak2.7 mi983
4San Francisco58.7 mi957
5Scotts Valley5.6 mi732
6Watsonville15.0 mi582
7Capitola4.0 mi476
8Soquel4.5 mi436

Who commutes in

Top origin places for workers who travel into Santa Cruz.

1Santa Cruz0.0 mi6,746
2Watsonville15.0 mi1,837
3Live Oak2.7 mi1,601
4San Jose24.6 mi1,323
5Scotts Valley5.6 mi762
6Capitola4.0 mi737
7Soquel4.5 mi693
8San Francisco58.7 mi509

Top industries

The sectors that employ Santa Cruz’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%)
EDEducational Services17.5%
AFAccommodation and Food Services15.7%
HCHealth Care and Social Assistance11.6%
RTRetail Trade10.2%
MFManufacturing9.5%
ARArts, Entertainment, and Recreation5.7%
PTProfessional, Scientific, and Technical Services5.6%
OSOther Services (except Public Administration)4.1%
COConstruction3.4%
Connectivity

Internet options for Santa Cruz

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 Gbps87%
5 Gbps86%
8 Gbps
See all internet providers in Santa Cruz

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).