Santa Cruz County, CA: 18 findings, 5 at a watch level and 13 noted

18 findings fired for Santa Cruz County, CA this run, against a typical home value of $1,148,774 in August 2026 and covered employment of 100,397 in 2026 Q1. 6 further findings are not listed here.

This is the real estate lens: Agents, investors, appraisers, relocation It keeps the findings whose subject matches that interest and drops the rest, so it is a subset of the full brief and never a different set of numbers. The full brief is the canonical version of this page.

12 findings #

currentretrieved 2026-10-07

  1. 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

  2. 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

  3. 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

  4. 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

  5. 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

  6. noteSanta Cruz County, CA's average weekly wage was 1.3% higher than the same quarter a year earlier in 2026 Q1, on BLS QCEW's published over-the-year change.

    Period 2026 Q1.
    Show the arithmetic
    • +1.3 % = BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change for 2026 Q1, as published
    • the newest QCEW file carries no year-earlier level, so no move from one level to another is printed

    BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published

  7. noteSanta Cruz County, CA's covered employment was 0.9% higher than the same quarter a year earlier in 2026 Q1, on BLS QCEW's published over-the-year change.

    Period 2026 Q1.
    Show the arithmetic
    • +0.9 % = BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change for 2026 Q1, as published
    • the newest QCEW file carries no year-earlier level, so no move from one level to another is printed

    BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published

  8. noteSanta Cruz County, CA's typical home value rose 0.6% from $1,142,152 in July 2026 to $1,148,774 in August 2026, on Zillow ZHVI.

    Period 2026-08.
    Show the arithmetic
    • +0.6% = (1148774.1709321274 - 1142151.9931789187) / 1142151.9931789187 × 100
    • 1148774.1709321274 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-08
    • 1142151.9931789187 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-07

  9. noteSanta Cruz County, CA's typical asking rent fell 0.3% from $3,518 in July 2026 to $3,506 in August 2026, on Zillow ZORI.

    Period 2026-08.
    Show the arithmetic
    • -0.3% = (3505.8021799181993 - 3518.114505000775) / 3518.114505000775 × 100
    • 3505.8021799181993 = Zillow ZORI, 2026-08
    • 3518.114505000775 = Zillow ZORI, 2026-07

  10. noteSanta Cruz County, CA's typical home value of $1,148,774 ranks 15th of 3,063 US counties, against a median of $234,566.

    Period 2026-08.
    Show the arithmetic
    • 100 on the 0-to-100 scale across 3063 US counties that published home.latest

    position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level

  11. noteSanta Cruz County, CA's typical asking rent of $3,506 ranks 13th of 1,399 US counties, against a median of $1,496.

    Period 2026-08.
    Show the arithmetic
    • 99 on the 0-to-100 scale across 1399 US counties that published rent.latest

    position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level

  12. noteSanta Cruz County, CA's typical home value of +4.6% ranks 4th of 58 California counties, against a median of +0.3%.

    Period 2026-08.
    Show the arithmetic
    • 95 on the 0-to-100 scale across 58 California counties that published home.yoyPct

    position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level

A lens narrows which numbers are shown, not which holes are admitted to: a withheld figure or a pending release survives every lens, because a gap is a fact about the place rather than about one reader's subject.

Subscribe to this lens #

currentretrieved 2026-10-07

The same narrowed findings as a feed.

Sources #

  • estimateQuarterly Census of Employment and WagesU.S. Bureau of Labor Statisticsopen the source
    · retrieved 2026-10-07 · typical home value / (average weekly wage × 52); one average covered job, not a household
  • estimateZillow Home Value Index (ZHVI)Zillow Researchopen the source
    · retrieved 2026-10-07 · typical home value / (typical rent × 12); Zillow ZHVI over ZORI, same month
  • publishedQuarterly Census of Employment and WagesU.S. Bureau of Labor Statisticsopen the source
    area 06087, all ownerships, all industries · period 2026-Q1 · retrieved 2026-10-07
  • publishedZillow Home Value Index (ZHVI)Zillow Researchopen the source
    County_zhvi_uc_sfrcondo_tier_0.33_0.67_sm_sa_month.csv · period 2026-08 · retrieved 2026-10-07
  • publishedZillow Observed Rent Index (ZORI)Zillow Researchopen the source
    County_zori_uc_sfrcondomfr_sm_month.csv · period 2026-08 · retrieved 2026-10-07
  • estimateZillow Home Value Index (ZHVI)Zillow Researchopen the source
    · retrieved 2026-10-07 · month-over-month percent change = (newest month − previous month) / |previous month| × 100, from Zillow's own published month columns
  • estimateZillow Home Value Index (ZHVI)Zillow Researchopen the source
    · retrieved 2026-10-07 · momentum = Σ wᵢ · clip(changeᵢ / scaleᵢ, −1, 1) / Σ wᵢ over the terms present; weights and scales: home value 1-yr change 0.3 (±10%), rent 1-yr change 0.15 (±10%), jobs over-the-year change 0.3 (±3%), avg weekly wage over-the-year change 0.25 (±6%)
  • estimateZillow Observed Rent Index (ZORI)Zillow Researchopen the source
    · retrieved 2026-10-07 · month-over-month percent change = (newest month − previous month) / |previous month| × 100, from Zillow's own published month columns

Citations

  • U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages. https://www.bls.gov/cew/. accessed 2026-10-07. estimate computed by Embedding Atlas: typical home value / (average weekly wage × 52); one average covered job, not a household.
  • Zillow Research. Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI). https://www.zillow.com/research/data/. accessed 2026-10-07. estimate computed by Embedding Atlas: typical home value / (typical rent × 12); Zillow ZHVI over ZORI, same month.
  • U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages. series area 06087, all ownerships, all industries. period 2026-Q1. https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2026/1/area/06087.csv. accessed 2026-10-07.
  • Zillow Research. Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI). series County_zhvi_uc_sfrcondo_tier_0.33_0.67_sm_sa_month.csv. period 2026-08. https://files.zillowstatic.com/research/public_csvs/zhvi/County_zhvi_uc_sfrcondo_tier_0.33_0.67_sm_sa_month.csv. accessed 2026-10-07.
  • Zillow Research. Zillow Observed Rent Index (ZORI). series County_zori_uc_sfrcondomfr_sm_month.csv. period 2026-08. https://files.zillowstatic.com/research/public_csvs/zori/County_zori_uc_sfrcondomfr_sm_month.csv. accessed 2026-10-07.
  • Zillow Research. Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI). https://www.zillow.com/research/data/. accessed 2026-10-07. estimate computed by Embedding Atlas: month-over-month percent change = (newest month − previous month) / |previous month| × 100, from Zillow's own published month columns.
  • Zillow Research. Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI). https://www.zillow.com/research/data/. accessed 2026-10-07. estimate computed by Embedding Atlas: momentum = Σ wᵢ · clip(changeᵢ / scaleᵢ, −1, 1) / Σ wᵢ over the terms present; weights and scales: home value 1-yr change 0.3 (±10%), rent 1-yr change 0.15 (±10%), jobs over-the-year change 0.3 (±3%), avg weekly wage over-the-year change 0.25 (±6%).
  • Zillow Research. Zillow Observed Rent Index (ZORI). https://www.zillow.com/research/data/. accessed 2026-10-07. estimate computed by Embedding Atlas: month-over-month percent change = (newest month − previous month) / |previous month| × 100, from Zillow's own published month columns.

What these numbers are not

  • The newest BLS QCEW file carries no year-earlier level, only the over-the-year percent change BLS publishes itself. Every employment and wage comparison here states that published change; none of them is a move from one level to another, because the two levels are not both in the file.
  • A percentile here is a min-max scaling of average rank across the entities that published the metric this period: the smallest published value scores 0 and the largest scores 100. It is not the share of entities below the value, and entities that did not publish the metric are counted in neither the rank nor its denominator.
  • The named indicators shown beside this brief are national or basin-level series, not measurements of Santa Cruz County, CA; 30-year fixed mortgage rate (watch) is at a watch or alert level. They are context.
  • The occupation mix is the 42100 metro area's, from the bundled BLS OEWS release: OEWS does not publish a county table.
  • Water rows are everything within 75 km of this place's internal point (150 km for reservoirs), not everything inside its boundary: lib/water searches discs, and every row prints its own distance.
  • Server report: satellite turbidity is only computed in a browser, so that term is absent here.
  • USGS gauges did not answer.
  • USGS wells did not answer.
  • Stress uses 1 of 4 terms (drought); missing terms are left out, not assumed.
  • Groundwater has no trend term: one latest level cannot say whether an aquifer is being drawn down.
  • Obligations are what agencies committed in FY2026 by place of performance: not outlays, and not the recipient's own location.
  • FY2026 closed 7 days ago; agencies report with up to a 45-day lag, so totals are still filling in.
  • The indicator block is the NATIONAL set, filtered only by lens. None of these series is keyed to this place: they are United States, gauge, single-state or port series and they are shown as context, not as this place's own readings.

Page assembled 2026-10-07T05:33:38.154Z. Place identity tables pulled 2026-10-01.