Santa Cruz County, Arizona Population and Demographics

In this article, we'll explore the population statistics for Santa Cruz County, Arizona, including popular demographics data like median age, number of households, household income, gender, employment and unemployment rates, occupations, religion, and more.

We are using the latest American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year survey data from the US Census Bureau, which is accurate up to 2021.

Table of Contents

Population

There is a lot of data that lets us see how many people live in Santa Cruz County, Arizona. The most basic data is the total population, which is the total number of people living in Santa Cruz County, Arizona. The estimated population of Santa Cruz County, Arizona is 47,463 people, with a median age of 37.2.

We can look at the total population in Santa Cruz County over the last 5 years to see how much it has changed.

Year Population Change 5-Year Change
2021
47,463
+1.87%
+2.38%
2020
46,594
+0.25%
-
2019
46,480
 -0.22% -
2018
46,584
+0.49%
-
2017
46,358
 - -

Population of Santa Cruz County, Arizona by Race and Ethnicity

We can also look at how the population has changed over the last 5 years by each of the race/ethnicity types as defined by the US Census Bureau.

Race 2021 2017 Change
White
15%
15%
 0.00%
Black/African American
0.3%
0.3%
 0.00%
Native
0.2%
0.2%
 0.00%
Hispanic
83.2%
83.4%
 -0.24%
Asian
0.3%
0.8%
 -62.50%
Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
0%
0%
 0.00%
Two Or More Races
0.9%
0.3%
 +200.00%
Other
0.1%
0%
 0.00%

This data can be very important for a number of reasons, including social and economic research, planning and development, and marketing to a multi-cultural population.

Note that the Native group includes both Native American and Alaskan Native people.

Population of Santa Cruz County, Arizona by Age and Gender

The age and gender of a population is another interesting demographic statistic because it lets us track trends in the population over time. For example, we can see how the population has changed over the last 5 years by median age as a total, and also by male and female.

Year Total Male Female
2021 37.2 0% 36.3 +3.12% 37.9 -1.81%
2020 37.2 +1.36% 35.2 0% 38.6 +1.85%
2019 36.7 +0.27% 35.2 +0.28% 37.9 -0.26%
2018 36.6 0% 35.1 +3.24% 38 -2.56%
2017 36.6 - 34 - 39 -

The median age of Santa Cruz County, Arizona gives you an idea of the age distribution, with half of the population being older than the median age and half being younger.

This can then be used to infer and compare against birth rates, parent ages, and more metrics to understand the population. For example, an increasing median age indicates an aging population, which can be a sign of a declining population in terms of birth rates and workforce participation.

Age 2021 2017
(Years) Male Female Male Female
0 to 9 3,774 -21.39% 3,424 +13.17% 3,026 3,889
10 to 19 3,508 +13.68% 3,681 -10.36% 4,000 3,309
20 to 29 2,808 +0.94% 2,742 +0.89% 2,833 2,766
30 to 39 2,312 +9.22% 2,518 +27.83% 2,526 3,287
40 to 49 2,335 +6.02% 3,023 -21.79% 2,469 2,415
50 to 59 2,459 +3.24% 3,244 -8.54% 2,534 2,974
60 to 69 2,884 -7.42% 2,610 +4.31% 2,674 2,719
70+ 2,149 +23.96% 2,887 +14.96% 2,704 3,338

Median Household Income

The latest median household income of Santa Cruz County, Arizona is $45,089.00.

In simple terms, the median income is the middle income of a group of people. Half of the people in the group make more than the median income, and half make less. The median income is a good indicator of the overall income of a group of people, and can be used to compare against other metrics such as the average income, per capita income, and more.

Median Income by Age

We can also look at the median income by age to see how the median income varies by age, and how it compares to the overall median income for Santa Cruz County.

  • Under 25
    $29,645.00
  • 25 to 44
    $51,395.00
  • 45 to 64
    $52,560.00
  • 65 and over
    $36,938.00

Average Household Income

Whenever we ask what is the average household income in Santa Cruz County, we are actually talking about the mean household income.

This is calculated by adding up all the incomes of all the households in Santa Cruz County, and then dividing that number by the total number of households. This is a good way to get a general idea of the average income of a group of people, but it can be skewed by a very high or very low incomes.

The average household income of Santa Cruz County, Arizona is currently $64,691.00.

In terms of accurately summarizing income at a geographic level, the median income is a better metric than the average income because it isn't affected by a small number of very high or very low incomes.

If you had an area where the average income was greater than the median, it can mean that there is significant income inequality, with income being concentrated in a small number of wealthy households.

3.51% of households in Santa Cruz County are classed as high income households (making $200,000+ per year).

Household Income Tiers

The US Census Bureau divides households into income tiers based on the median income for the area. This is a good way to compare the income of Santa Cruz County against other areas.

  • Less than $24,999
    25.15%
  • $25,000 to $49,999
    28.93%
  • $50,000 to $74,999
    17.52%
  • $75,000 to $99,999
    10.33%
  • $100,000 to $149,999
    10.80%
  • $150,000 to $199,999
    3.77%
  • $200,000 or more
    3.51%

Per Capita Income

The per capita income in Santa Cruz County is $22,985.00.

Per capita income is the average income of a person in a given area. It is calculated by dividing the total income of Santa Cruz County by the total population of Santa Cruz County.

This is different from the average or mean income because it includes and accounts for all people in Santa Cruz County, Arizona, including people like children, the elderly, unemployed people, retired people, and more.

Education Levels

We can also look at the education levels in Santa Cruz County to see how many people have a high school degree, a bachelor's degree, or a graduate degree.

Educational attainment is a good indicator of the overall education level of a population, and can be used to compare against other metrics such as the average income, per capita income, and more to see how education levels affect income, unemployment rates, and more.

  • Master's degree or higher
    13.81%
  • Bachelor's degree
    27.88%
  • Some college or associate's degree
    10.04%
  • High school diploma or equivalent
    40.83%
  • Less than high school diploma
    7.45%

Employment

Employment rates are all based around the total population in Santa Cruz County that are over the age of 16.

The total population of Santa Cruz County over the age of 16 is 36,258.

Of those people, a total of 56.80% are working or actively looking for work. This is called the labor force participation rate.

The participation rate is a useful market measure because it shows the relative amount of labor resources available to the economy.

The employment to total population rate in Santa Cruz County is 51.10%.

Employment by Age

We can look at the employment rates by age to see how it compares to the overall employment rate.

Age Population Participation Unemployment Rate
16 to 19 years 3,019 27.20% 42.30%
20 to 24 years 2,878 74.80% 8.60%
25 to 29 years 2,721 73.40% 5.10%
30 to 34 years 2,714 76.60% 12.70%
35 to 44 years 5,382 78.90% 7.50%
45 to 54 years 5,297 77.50% 9.60%
55 to 59 years 2,812 76.20% 10.90%
60 to 64 years 2,912 54.30% 7.70%
65 to 74 years 4,998 22.10% 6.10%
75 years and over 3,525 10.80% 0.00%

Employment by Race

Another very interesting employment statistic we can look at is the employment and unemployment rates by race in Santa Cruz County. The table below shows the rates for each of the ethnicity groups types defined by the US Census Bureau.

Age Population Participation Unemployment Rate
White 23,878 53.60% 8.00%
Black or African American 201 32.30% 60.00%
American Indian and Alaska Native 220 51.80% 5.30%
Asian 92 30.40% 0.00%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 0 0.00% 0.00%
Other 3,624 59.50% 7.00%
Two or more races 8,243 65.90% 14.90%
Hispanic or Latino 29,288 60.50% 10.80%
Not Hispanic or Latino 6,429 40.30% 3.10%

Occupations

In this section we can look at the most common occupations in Santa Cruz County as well as the gender breakdown and earnings of them.

The total population of civilian employees that are 16 years old or older in Santa Cruz County is 18,540, with median earnings of $30,812.00.

Women in Santa Cruz County, Arizona earning approximately 81.90% of the men's earnings.

Population Earnings
Total 18,540 $30,812.00
Male 9,938 $33,149.00
Female 8,602 $27,152.00

Occupations by Category

In the table below, we can break down the population and earnings even further by occupation. The list of occupation categories below will show you how many people are employed in each category and the median earnings of each profession.

Occupation Employed Earnings
Management 1,747 $49,783.00
Business and Financial 690 $48,080.00
Computer and Mathematical 221 $56,120.00
Architecture and Engineering 51 $123,092.00
Life, Physical, and Social Science 90 $50,370.00
Community and Social Service 171 $48,438.00
Legal 74 $85,556.00
Educational and Library 1,161 $36,719.00
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media 199 $24,397.00
Healthcare Practitioners 516 $46,286.00
Healthcare Support 882 $25,069.00
Firefighters and Protective Service 442 $21,034.00
Law Enforcement 567 $58,588.00
Food Preparation and Serving 937 $14,914.00
Building and Grounds Cleaning 720 $23,875.00
Personal Care and Service 380 $18,625.00
Sales 2,259 $34,764.00
Office and Administrative Support 2,986 $32,907.00
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry 322 $11,899.00
Construction and Extraction 1,213 $30,117.00
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair 267 $33,652.00
Production 488 $26,439.00
Transportation and Material Moving 898 $30,956.00

Occupations by Gender

The table below shows the same occupations from the list above, but we have split them by male and female to see how many male and females work in each occupation, the median earnings, and the male to female ratio of earnings.

That last metric is important because it can be used to look at the gender pay gap between men and women.

Occupation Male Female
Population Earnings Population Earnings
Management 770 $55,617.00 977 $44,399.00
Business and Financial 382 $73,548.00 308 $42,100.00
Computer and Mathematical 173 $56,641.00 48 $38,913.00
Architecture and Engineering 18 $0.00 33 $0.00
Life, Physical, and Social Science 81 $47,375.00 9 $0.00
Community and Social Service 66 $51,964.00 105 $41,375.00
Legal 40 $128,462.00 34 $0.00
Educational and Library 259 $37,788.00 902 $35,938.00
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media 53 $45,673.00 146 $24,241.00
Healthcare Practitioners 158 $63,968.00 358 $36,603.00
Healthcare Support 33 $0.00 849 $23,021.00
Firefighters and Protective Service 330 $19,483.00 112 $33,289.00
Law Enforcement 516 $58,704.00 51 $49,688.00
Food Preparation and Serving 436 $20,491.00 501 $12,047.00
Building and Grounds Cleaning 393 $29,250.00 327 $11,750.00
Personal Care and Service 117 $21,442.00 263 $18,391.00
Sales 1,232 $45,088.00 1,027 $26,406.00
Office and Administrative Support 1,047 $32,443.00 1,939 $33,296.00
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry 296 $11,743.00 26 $0.00
Construction and Extraction 1,213 $30,117.00 0 $0.00
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair 258 $33,873.00 9 $0.00
Production 357 $25,568.00 131 $35,982.00
Transportation and Material Moving 787 $36,760.00 111 $20,087.00

Households and Family Size

A household defined bu the US Census Bureau is a group of people who occupy a housing unit. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, group of rooms, or single room occupied as separate living quarters.

There are currently 16,428 households in Santa Cruz County, with an average household size of 2.87 people.

A family is defined as a group of two or more people related by birth, marriage, or adoption who live together in the same household.

There are 12,073 families in Santa Cruz County with an average family size of 3.41 people.

Households by Marital Status

The four categories of household by marital status are:

  • Married-couple family
  • Male householder with no spouse present
  • Female household with no spouse present
  • Nonfamily household

The table below shows the total number of households and families, with the average sizes of each.

Married Male Female Nonfamily
Total Households 8,288 1,090 2,695 4,355
Average Household Size 3.53 3.08 3.55 1.14
Total Families 8,288 1,090 2,695 0
Average Household Size 3.51 2.66 3.39 0

Poverty

Of the 12,073 families in Santa Cruz County, 18.40% are considered to be below the poverty threshold.

The table below shows the latest poverty thresholds in Santa Cruz County:

Household Size Poverty Threshold
1 Person $14,580.00
2 People $19,720.00
3 People $24,860.00
4 People $30,000.00
5 People $35,140.00
6 People $40,280.00
7 People $45,420.00
8 People $50,560.00

Housing

There are 18,677 housing units in Santa Cruz County, Arizona.

The table below shows the split between occupied and vacant units:

Total Percentage
Occupied 16,428 87.96%
Vacant 2,249 12.04%

25.76% of the total 18,677 housing units in Santa Cruz County are rental units. This is approximately 4,812 properties.

For owner-occupied housing units, a total of 11,064 are occupied by the owner - or 59.24% of the total.

Rental Rates

The median rent for a property in Santa Cruz County is $667.00.

In the chart below, we can look at the number of rental properties in Santa Cruz County that fall into a particular rent range. These can then be used to compare with other areas, or to see how they have changed over time.

  • No rent paid
    552
  • Less than $500
    1,229
  • $500 to $999
    2,799
  • $1,000 to $1,499
    732
  • $1,500 to $1,999
    26
  • $2,000 to $2,499
    0
  • $2,500 to $2,999
    26
  • $3,000 or more
    0

Property Value

The median value of a property in Santa Cruz County is $165,500.00.

Just like with rental rates, we can look at the number of properties in Santa Cruz County that fall into a particular value range.

  • Less than $50,000
    367
  • $50,000 to $99,999
    1,357
  • $100,000 to $149,999
    2,825
  • $150,000 to $199,999
    2,466
  • $200,000 to $299,999
    2,018
  • $300,000 to $499,999
    1,144
  • $500,000 to $999,999
    711
  • $1,000,000 or more
    176

Property Age

We can also look at the age of properties in Santa Cruz County. The chart below shows the number of properties in Santa Cruz County that fall into a particular age range.

  • 1939 or earlier
    770
  • 1940 to 1949
    242
  • 1950 to 1959
    994
  • 1960 to 1969
    1,413
  • 1970 to 1979
    3,737
  • 1980 to 1989
    3,205
  • 1990 to 1999
    3,779
  • 2000 to 2009
    3,804
  • 2010 to 2013
    733
  • 2014 or later
    0

Vehicles per Household

The number of vehicles available per household can be a good indicator of the level of affluence in an area. The chart below shows the number of households in Santa Cruz County that have a particular number of vehicles available.

  • No vehicles available
    959
  • 1 vehicle available
    4,696
  • 2 vehicles available
    5,491
  • 3 or more vehicles available
    5,282

Commuting to Work

In this section, we can also look at how people in Santa Cruz County get to work. The chart below shows the number of people in Santa Cruz County that commute to work in a particular way.

22.5 minutes is the average travel time to work for people in Santa Cruz County.

These commute times can be compared to other date like income and educational levels to see how they relate to each other and if there are any trends in the data that might suggest a correlation.

  • Less than 5 minutes
    383
  • 5 to 9 minutes
    1,801
  • 10 to 14 minutes
    3,609
  • 15 to 19 minutes
    4,110
  • 20 to 24 minutes
    2,789
  • 25 to 29 minutes
    659
  • 30 to 34 minutes
    1,094
  • 35 to 39 minutes
    249
  • 40 to 44 minutes
    257
  • 45 to 59 minutes
    521
  • 60 to 89 minutes
    1,246
  • 90 or more minutes
    414

Summary

We've covered a LOT of demographic and population data for Santa Cruz County, Arizona in this article! Hopefully you have found it very useful in your research of the area.

If you use any of the data found on this page, please consider linking back to USPopulation.org as the source and if you have any feedback or data requests, click here to contact us.

Places in Santa Cruz County, Arizona

We have data for 12 places in Santa Cruz County, Arizona. Click on a place below to see more information about the demographics of that place.