Santa Cruz Fast Facts
Santa Cruz County is located on the Pacific coast of California, just south of the San Francisco Bay Area, along the northern coast of the Monterey Bay. Santa Cruz County was one of the original counties of California, created in 1850 at the time of statehood. The County has a population of 251,747 (2007).
This community housed one of the Monterey Bay's most important ports and was an epicenter of export oriented industries such as tanning and lumber. With this strong economic base, as well as the striking natural beauty of the region, it is no surprise that Santa Cruz has consistently had a progressive, modern economy.
Santa Cruz County has often been at the forefront of major trends. The Santa Cruz Chamber's predecessor, the Board of Trade of Santa Cruz, was created in 1889 to promote Santa Cruz as a great place to live, grow a successful business, or take a one-of-a-kind vacation. The Board of Trade were early supporters for the protection of the Big Trees as Redwood State Park in the early 1900s. The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk and the seaside resorts of the early 20th century pioneered the tradition of beach recreation.
Duke Kahanamoku was first exhibit and popularize surfing as a recreational sport in the continental United States with his visit to Santa Cruz in the 1920s. Farms and vineyards have grown and thrived in the mild climate and rich soil of Santa Cruz since the 1800s. Local Santa Cruz electronics company Plantronics represented the strength of the city's technological industries when they produced headsets for Mercury and Apollo space programs. Today, tourism, agriculture, and high-tech still form the economic base
of Santa Cruz County.
Santa Cruz County is a strip about ten miles wide between the coast and the crest of the Santa Cruz Mountains at the northern end of the Monterey Bay. It can be divided roughly into four regions: the rugged "north coast," the urban City of Santa Cruz, Soquel, Capitola, and Aptos; mountainous Bonny Doon, San Lorenzo River Valley; and fertile "south county," including Watsonville. Agriculture is concentrated in the coastal lowlands of the county's northern and southern ends. Most of the coastline is flanked by
cliffs.
Santa Cruz County has four incorporated cities:
Capitola
Santa Cruz
Scotts Valley
Watsonville
Santa Cruz County has 21 unincorporated towns:
Amesti
Aptos
Aptos Hills-Larkin Valley
Ben Lomond
Bonny Doon
Boulder Creek
Brookdale
Corralitos
Davenport
Day Valley
Felton
Freedom
Interlaken
La Selva Beach
Live Oak
Mount Hermon
Opal Cliffs
Rio del Mar
Soquel
Pasatiempo
Twin Lakes
Santa Cruz County Profile
Land area: 445 sq. mi.
Water area: 161.9 sq. mi.
Population density: 575 people per square mile (high).
County population in July 2009: 256,218 (85% urban, 15% rural)
Type of workers:
Private wage or salary: 73%
Government: 15%
Self-employed, not incorporated: 12%
Residents:
Median resident age: 35.0 years
California median age: 33.3 years
Males: 127,579 (49.9%)
Females: 128,023 (50.1%)
White Non-Hispanic (62.9%)
Hispanic (29.0%)
Other race (8.1%)
Two or more races (2.7%)
American Indian (2.1%)
Black (1.0%)
Filipino (0.9%)
Chinese (0.8%)
Japanese (0.6%)
(Total can be greater than 100% because Hispanics could be counted in other races)
Read more detailed statistics about Santa Cruz County at City-Data.com
To find out more information about Santa Cruz, visit the following Santa Cruz Fast Facts pages:
For more in-depth information on Santa Cruz please contact the Chamber at 831-457-3713.