Santa Cruz County, CA
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 37.01, -122.01.
Assembled 2026-10-06. Read the brief.
- 99th pct · 15th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 91st pct · 6th of 58 California counties · median $500,264
- counties in the Santa Cruz-Watsonville metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 1 counties in the Santa Cruz-Watsonville metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 68th pct · 973rd of 3,063 US counties · median +2.9%
- 94th pct · 4th of 58 California counties · median +0.3%
- counties in the Santa Cruz-Watsonville metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 1 counties in the Santa Cruz-Watsonville metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 99th pct · 13th of 1,399 US counties · median $1,496
- 91st pct · 5th of 49 California counties · median $2,340
- counties in the Santa Cruz-Watsonville metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 1 counties in the Santa Cruz-Watsonville metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 90th pct · 297th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 56th pct · 26th of 58 California counties · median 74,865
- counties in the Santa Cruz-Watsonville metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 1 counties in the Santa Cruz-Watsonville metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 88th pct · 374th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 66th pct · 20th of 58 California counties · median $1,206
- counties in the Santa Cruz-Watsonville metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 1 counties in the Santa Cruz-Watsonville metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 99th pct · 12th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.3
- 100th pct · 1st of 58 California counties · median 7.4
- counties in the Santa Cruz-Watsonville metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 1 counties in the Santa Cruz-Watsonville metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
Typical home value divided by the average annual wage of one covered job.
A percentile here is a min-max scaling of average rank: the smallest published value in the cohort is 0 and the largest is 100, and tied values share the average of the ranks they span. It is not the share of entities below the value, so 0 means smallest, not none below. Entities that did not publish the metric are outside the cohort entirely and are counted in neither the rank nor its denominator.
Home values #
Typical home $1.1 m (Aug 2026), +4.6% over one year, +11.8% over five
- 99th pct · 15th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 91st pct · 6th of 58 California counties · median $500,264
- counties in the Santa Cruz-Watsonville metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 1 counties in the Santa Cruz-Watsonville metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Santa Cruz County, CA | $1.1 m · +4.6% 1-yr |
Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI), typical value of homes in the 35th to 65th percentile, smoothed and seasonally adjusted; a model estimate of value, not a sale price. Data through Zillow Research.
Rents #
Typical rent $3,506/mo (Aug 2026), +3.3% over one year; price-to-rent 27.3
- 99th pct · 13th of 1,399 US counties · median $1,496
- 91st pct · 5th of 49 California counties · median $2,340
- counties in the Santa Cruz-Watsonville metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 1 counties in the Santa Cruz-Watsonville metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Santa Cruz County, CA | $3,506/mo · +3.3% 1-yr |
Zillow Observed Rent Index (ZORI), smoothed, all homes and multifamily; price-to-rent = typical home / (typical rent × 12).
What the typical home costs to carry #
Principal and interest of $6,288 a month on $1,148,774 at 7.28%, against an average weekly wage worth $5,941 a month: 105.8% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $1.1 m × 80% = $919,019, r = 7.28%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-01), n = 360 → $6,288/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $1,371 × 52 / 12 = $5,941) = 106% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $1.1 m / ($1,371 × 52) = 16.1
- price-to-rent = $1.1 m / ($3,506 × 12) = 27.3
The wage is one covered job’s average, not a household’s income, so this is the share of a single paycheque and not a mortgage underwriting ratio.
Estimate. Principal and interest on the typical home with 20% down over 30 years at this week's Freddie Mac average rate; compared with the average weekly wage of all jobs covered by unemployment insurance in the area (BLS QCEW), which is pay per job, not household income.
Jobs & wages #
100,397 jobs at 10,804 employers (2026 Q1); +0.9% jobs and +1.3% average weekly wage over the year
- 90th pct · 297th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 56th pct · 26th of 58 California counties · median 74,865
- counties in the Santa Cruz-Watsonville metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 1 counties in the Santa Cruz-Watsonville metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Santa Cruz County, CA | 100,397 jobs · $1,371/wk · +0.9% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health care and social assistance | 17,753 | $1,458 | 1.18 | +2.6% |
| Accommodation and food services | 10,845 | $634 | 1.20 | -2.5% |
| Retail trade | 10,345 | $805 | 1.06 | +0.9% |
| Manufacturing | 6,188 | $1,936 | 0.77 | -14.3% |
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing | 5,070 | $779 | 6.99 | +33.5% |
| Construction | 4,825 | $1,391 | 0.92 | -3.5% |
| Professional and technical services | 4,605 | $2,004 | 0.66 | +6.3% |
| Other services | 3,846 | $962 | 1.28 | -3.9% |
| Administrative and waste services | 3,645 | $1,083 | 0.64 | -1.6% |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation | 2,963 | $565 | 1.79 | +7.7% |
| Wholesale trade | 2,689 | $1,875 | 0.70 | +0.8% |
| Educational services | 1,806 | $847 | 0.84 | -1.8% |
BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, all ownerships, total covered employment in the quarter's third month; over-the-year changes as published. Suppressed cells stay blank.
Drought #
No drought class at this point (USDM covers the United States only)
Sites found: 5, searched within 0 km of this place’s internal point. That is a disc around a point, not the area itself: sites outside the boundary are included, and sites inside it further than 0 km away are not.
US Drought Monitor current week; the highest class of any polygon containing the point.
Reservoirs #
Surface water layer not loaded
Sites found: 0, searched within 150 km of this place’s internal point. That is a disc around a point, not the area itself: sites outside the boundary are included, and sites inside it further than 150 km away are not.
Σ(capacity × percent full) / Σ capacity over TWDB reservoirs within 150 km. Texas only; elsewhere USGS reservoir elevation/storage is listed without a capacity to normalise by.
Stream gauges #
Surface water layer not loaded
Sites found: 0, searched within 75 km of this place’s internal point. That is a disc around a point, not the area itself: sites outside the boundary are included, and sites inside it further than 75 km away are not.
USGS latest readings screened against EPA freshwater criteria (DO ≥ 5 mg/L, pH 6.5–9, conductance, turbidity, temperature); NWS flood categories where a NWPS gauge is co-located.
Groundwater #
No USGS monitoring wells within 75 km (or above 1,500 km)
Sites found: 0, searched within 75 km of this place’s internal point. That is a disc around a point, not the area itself: sites outside the boundary are included, and sites inside it further than 75 km away are not.
USGS latest daily water levels. A single latest reading says where the table is, not which way it is moving; select a well for its 365-day trace.
Water stress #
low (0.00)
Σ wᵢ·termᵢ / Σ wᵢ = 0.35×0.00 / 0.35
Banks & federal dollars #
$8.0 bn in deposits at 39 offices of 10 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 1,724, moderately concentrated. $1.8 bn federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $1.6 bn, grants $145.3 m), $18,023 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Wells Fargo Bank, National Association | $2.1 bn · 26.8% share · 6 offices | |
| JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association | $1.5 bn · 18.4% share · 5 offices | |
| West Coast Community Bank | $1.3 bn · 16.3% share · 5 offices | |
| Santa Cruz, CA | $1.8 bn FY2026 · $18,023/job |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wells Fargo Bank, National Association | $2,143,134,000 | 26.8% | 6 |
| JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association | $1,472,615,000 | 18.4% | 5 |
| West Coast Community Bank | $1,305,671,000 | 16.3% | 5 |
| Bank of America, National Association | $1,221,202,000 | 15.3% | 5 |
| Fifth Third Bank, National Association | $776,414,000 | 9.7% | 6 |
| U.S. Bank National Association | $623,998,000 | 7.8% | 6 |
| BMO Bank National Association | $233,981,000 | 2.9% | 2 |
| Liberty Bank, National Association | $101,359,000 | 1.3% | 2 |
| Mechanics Bank | $100,102,000 | 1.3% | 1 |
| Pacific Valley Bank | $17,982,000 | 0.2% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 1,724 across 10 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls moderately concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 10 banks with deposits in the county = 26.8² + 18.4² + 16.3² + … (7 more) = 1,724
FDIC Summary of Deposits: deposits at every insured office as of June 30, annual; HHI is the sum of squared county deposit shares (DOJ 1995 bank merger screen: 1000 / 1800). USAspending: obligations by place of performance for the latest complete federal fiscal year (Oct 1 to Sep 30), what agencies committed, not what they paid out; recipients are legal entities. Per-job divides obligations by BLS QCEW covered employment.
Federal obligations #
That is $18,023 per covered job, against 100,397 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $1.8 bn / 100,397 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $18,023
USAspending obligations are recorded where the work is performed, so a prime award performed here is counted here even when the recipient is headquartered elsewhere. Recipients are legal entities, never people.
National context, not this county #
These are United States, single-gauge, single-state and port series. None of them is keyed to this county.
| Series | Latest | As of | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mississippi River at Memphis, stage · ft | not published | not published | |
| Mississippi River at St. Louis, stage · ft | not published | not published | |
| Ohio River at Louisville, stage · ft | 12.69 | 2026-10-05 | +3.3% |
| Missouri River at St. Joseph, stage · ft | not published | not published | |
| Colorado River below Hoover Dam, flow (Hoover releases) · ft³/s | 5,170.00 | 2026-02-05 | -25.3% |
| Texas reservoirs, statewide percent full · % | 72.60 | 2026-10-06 | +0.0% |
| Laredo truck crossings, monthly · trucks | 258,700.00 | 2026-08-01 | -0.4% |
| Los Angeles + Long Beach container volume, annual · TEU | 10,513,167.00 | 2023-01-01 | -13.5% |
| Containerships waiting for a berth, all US ports · ships | 6.00 | 2026-09-22 | -14.3% |
| Shanghai to Los Angeles container rate · $ per 40 ft box | 6,830.00 | 2026-08-01 | +7.4% |
| US diesel retail price · $ per gallon | unavailable | not published | |
| WTI crude oil, spot · $ per barrel | 96.16 | 2026-09-29 | -3.2% |
| 30-year fixed mortgage rate · % | 7.28 | 2026-10-01 | +3.6% |
| Housing starts, annual rate · thousands of units | 1,275.00 | 2026-08-01 | -2.6% |
| Building permits, annual rate · thousands of units | 1,403.00 | 2026-08-01 | -2.1% |
| Case-Shiller US home price index · index, Jan 2000 = 100 | 337.31 | 2026-07-01 | +0.1% |
| Unemployment rate · % | 4.20 | 2026-09-01 | +2.4% |
| US goods and services trade balance, monthly · $ millions | -105,572.00 | 2026-08-01 | -13.7% |
| Retail sales excluding food services, monthly · $ millions | 646,347.00 | 2026-08-01 | +1.1% |
The indicator registry has no county-keyed series and no geographic selection: every entry is national, a named gauge, a single state or a port. They are here as the backdrop the county's own numbers move against, and they are never this county's readings.
What changed #
Santa Cruz County, CA: 17 findings, 5 at a watch level and 12 noted
watchSanta Cruz County, CA's years of wages of 16.1 ranks 12th of 3,063 US counties, a watch level here: years of wages in the top tenth of US counties (position among the counties that published both a ZHVI value and a QCEW average weekly wage; not an official level). The previous published period is not in this table, so this is a standing level rather than a change.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- test: yearsOfWages percentile = 99.64075767472241 >= 90
- typical home value / (average weekly wage × 52); one average covered job, not a household
position among the counties that published both a ZHVI value and a QCEW average weekly wage; not an official level
watchSanta Cruz County, CA's price-to-rent ratio of 27.3 ranks 40th of 1,399 US counties, a watch level here: price-to-rent in the top tenth of US counties (position among the counties that published both ZHVI and ZORI this month; not an official level). The previous published period is not in this table, so this is a standing level rather than a change.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- test: priceToRent percentile = 97.21030042918454 >= 90
- typical home value / (typical rent × 12); Zillow ZHVI over ZORI, same month
position among the counties that published both ZHVI and ZORI this month; not an official level
watchSanta Cruz County, CA's years of wages is 16.1, a watch level here: typical home value worth 10 or more years of one average covered wage (typical home value / (average weekly wage × 52), one average covered job rather than a household; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level). The previous published period is not in this table, so this is a standing level rather than a change.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- test: yearsOfWages = 16.113647687428145 >= 10
- typical home value / (average weekly wage × 52); one average covered job, not a household
typical home value / (average weekly wage × 52), one average covered job rather than a household; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level
watchSanta Cruz County, CA's price-to-rent ratio is 27.3, a watch level here: typical home value worth 25 or more years of typical rent (typical home value / (typical rent × 12), Zillow ZHVI over ZORI, same month; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level). The previous published period is not in this table, so this is a standing level rather than a change.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- test: priceToRent = 27.306498198721613 >= 25
- typical home value / (typical rent × 12); Zillow ZHVI over ZORI, same month
typical home value / (typical rent × 12), Zillow ZHVI over ZORI, same month; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level
watchSanta Cruz County, CA's covered employment of 100,397 scores 91 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 56 across California counties, a gap of 35 points.
Period 2026 Q1.Show the arithmetic
- 35 = |91 across US counties - 56 across California counties|
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
Read all 12 findings in the full brief
Every finding is produced by a fixed rule table and a fixed sentence for each rule. Nothing here is generated prose.