Santa Cruz County, California
County seat: Santa Cruz · Population 258,852 (2025) · 445 sq mi
Santa Cruz County is the 25th most populous of California's 58 counties, with 258,852 people (2025 estimate). Its county seat is Santa Cruz. The map shows its 4 cities and towns and the 4 neighboring counties.
Santa Cruz County facts
- County seat
- Santa Cruz
- Population (2025 estimate)
- 258,852 −4.9% since 2020
- Land area
- 445 sq mi 57th largest of 58
- Water area
- 162 sq mi
- Population density
- 582 per sq mi
- Established
- 1850
- Named after
- Santa Cruz city in and county seat of Santa Cruz County, California, United States
- Largest city
- Santa Cruz 61,797
- Median household income
- $111,093
- Cities and towns
- 4 plus 26 CDPs
- ZIP codes
- 17
- Time zone
- Pacific
- FIPS code
- 06087
Cities and towns in Santa Cruz County
Santa Cruz County has 4 incorporated cities, towns and villages. Populations count the people living inside Santa Cruz County; cities that cross a county line also list the other counties.
| Name | Type | Population 2025 | Also in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Cruz (county seat) | City | 61,797 | |
| Watsonville | City | 50,716 | |
| Scotts Valley | City | 11,652 | |
| Capitola | City | 9,340 |
Unincorporated communities (CDPs)
Census-designated places are communities without their own city government; the county provides their services.
| Community | Population | Also in |
|---|---|---|
| Live Oak | 16,911 | |
| Soquel | 10,679 | |
| Rio del Mar | 9,201 | |
| Interlaken | 8,068 | |
| Ben Lomond | 6,858 | |
| Aptos | 6,404 | |
| Pleasure Point | 5,489 | |
| Twin Lakes | 5,073 | |
| Boulder Creek | 4,632 | |
| Felton | 4,093 | |
| Day Valley | 3,579 | |
| Seacliff | 3,299 | |
| Freedom | 3,172 | |
| Bonny Doon | 3,149 | |
| Amesti | 2,818 | |
| La Selva Beach | 2,302 | |
| Aptos Hills-Larkin Valley | 2,127 | |
| Corralitos | 1,884 | |
| Brookdale | 1,378 | |
| Mount Hermon | 939 | |
| Lompico | 788 | |
| Pasatiempo | 610 | |
| Paradise Park | 470 | |
| Davenport | 403 | |
| Zayante | 399 | |
| Pajaro Dunes | 143 |
ZIP codes in Santa Cruz County
17 ZIP codes reach into Santa Cruz County. ZIP codes ignore county lines, so some also cover a neighboring county.
- 95003
- 95005
- 95006
- 95007
- 95010
- 95017
- 95018
- 95019
- 95033 also Santa Clara County
- 95041
- 95060
- 95062
- 95064
- 95065
- 95066
- 95073
- 95076 also Monterey and Santa Clara counties
Population of Santa Cruz County, 2020–2025
Santa Cruz County shrank by 13,311 people (−4.9%) between April 2020 and July 2025: 1,118 more births than deaths and a net loss of 13,980 people from migration.
| Year (July 1) | Population |
|---|---|
| 2020 | 271,758 |
| 2021 | 261,109 |
| 2022 | 265,786 |
| 2023 | 263,322 |
| 2024 | 261,417 |
| 2025 | 258,852 |
Neighboring counties
- Santa Clara County northeast · 1,914,391 people
- Monterey County southeast · 433,729 people
- San Mateo County northwest · 743,568 people
- San Benito County southeast · 70,082 people
Printable Santa Cruz County map
The PDF is a vector file with real text: it prints sharp on Letter paper and you can search it for a town. The PNG is 2400 pixels wide for slides and documents. Both are free to use with a credit to WhichCounty.
- PDF (Letter) (142 KB)
- PNG (2400 px) (96 KB)
Paste this code to embed the map on your site:
Sources
- Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Cartographic Boundary Files (1:500,000).
- Population: Census Bureau county and city estimates, Vintage 2025. CDP populations: American Community Survey 2020–2024.
- Places and ZIP codes: Census Bureau 2026 Gazetteer and 2020 ZIP Code Tabulation Area relationship files.
- County seat, founding year and name origin: Wikidata (CC0), checked against state sources.
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