County profile
Santa Cruz County, CA
United States · GDP 2024
#245 of 3,127 US counties by GDP72nd-percentile growthmore diversified than 91% of counties
EA Place Score
——methodology in progress
GDP 2024 (USD)
$21.1B
BEA · 2024
GDP growth (YoY)
+6.4%
BEA · 2024
Jobs tracked
80,209
Census CBP · 2023
Employers
7,136
Census CBP · 2023
Avg. wage
$65.3k
BLS QCEW · 2023
Population
258,852
Census PEP · 2025
Labor, income & education
Unemployment
5.2%
Median HH income
$111.1k±$2.7k
Bachelor's degree+
43.9%±1.2%
Poverty rate
11.6%±0.8%
Business applications
2,306 · 2025
Retail establishments
809
30.9/10k pop
Public companies headquartered here
SEC EDGAR · FMPCompanySectorRevenueEA
1Granite Construction IncorporatedIndustrials$4.4B72B2West Coast Community BancorpFinancial Services$170.8M70B3Joby Aviation, Inc.Industrials$53.4M39D4Everock, Inc.Consumer Defensive$11.5k——HQ-based placement with total (global) headcount — local employment attribution needs firmographic data; the industry mix at right is measured county data (CBP).
Industry mix · employment
Health care28%
Food & accommodation23%
Retail trade22%
Professional services10%
Manufacturing9%
Construction9%
share of top-6 sector employment · CBP 2023
Population & migration
Census PEP · 2020–2025
258,852
residents · 2025 · -4.7% since 2020
Income per capita $93.6k · BEA 2024
COMPONENTS OF CHANGE · 2021–2025
Domestic migration−15,429
International migration+2,015
Natural change+959
GDP trend
2019–2024 · nominal
$16.0B2019
$16.3B2020
$18.2B2021
$19.1B2022
$19.8B2023
$21.1B2024
Real estate & risk
FHFA · ACS · FEMA
Median home value
$1.0M±$15.1k
Median gross rent
$2.3k/mo±$51/mo
Vacancy rate
9.4%±0.6%
Affordability
15.7× wages
Residential permits
$87.8M
470 units · 1.8/1k pop
FEMA risk score
97.8
HUD Fair Market Rent (2BR):$4.2k/mo · 2026
TOP PERILS · FEMA NRI
Drought 99Landslide 99Earthquake 99
FHFA HOUSE PRICE INDEX · 2016–2025
16482016
17522017
18462018
18752019
18672020
20642021
23722022
23622023
24222024
24292025
RESIDENTIAL PERMITS · 2021–2025
↓ -21% since 20215982021
6082022
5402023
2592024
4702025
Transport access
BTS · FAA · USACE
Nearest interstate
29.1 km
I-280
Nearest freight rail
4.8 km
SCBG
Nearest port
53.5 km
PORT OF REDWOOD CITY WHARF NO 5
Nearest commercial airport
34.7 km
NORMAN Y MINETA SAN JOSE INTL
Filing activity
SEC EDGAR3 filings from 2 companies here in the last 90 days.
Wage trend
BLS QCEW · 2019–2023$65.3k
avg. annual pay · +18% since 2019
Similar US counties
nearest by GDPNearby & same-state counties
by GDP rankThe read
What is the GDP of Santa Cruz?
Santa Cruz's economy produced $21.1B in 2024, growing 6.4% year over year — faster than most US counties. Its largest employment sector is health care.
GDP: BEA (2024), USD-normalized · Jobs/employers/wages & industry mix: Census CBP (2023) · Population & migration: Census PEP · Income: BEA CAINC1 · Companies: SEC EDGAR + FMP, by HQ.