Santa Cruz County, California

2024 results by precinct

153 precincts · 134,981 votes cast

Harris · D+54

Harris +50

Trump +50

Real precinct boundaries. Hover for vote totals.

38 presidential elections

Year	Won	Margin	Democratic	Republican	Total
2024	D	+54.1%	100,998	27,978	134,981
2020	D	+59.9%	114,246	26,937	145,649
2016	D	+56.0%	95,249	22,438	130,012
2012	D	+55.5%	90,805	24,047	120,385
2008	D	+57.5%	98,745	25,244	127,736
2004	D	+48.1%	89,102	30,354	122,084
2000	D	+34.1%	66,618	29,627	108,350
1996	D	+29.6%	58,250	27,766	103,062
1992	D	+36.2%	66,183	24,916	113,992
1988	D	+24.8%	63,133	37,728	102,611
1984	D	+8.1%	49,091	41,652	92,147
1980	R	−5.8%	32,346	37,347	85,804
1976	D	+8.0%	37,772	31,872	73,969
1972	R	−3.5%	32,336	34,799	69,759
1968	R	−9.8%	20,492	25,365	49,944
1964	D	+17.3%	26,714	18,836	45,644
1960	R	−19.7%	16,659	24,858	41,704
1956	R	−27.4%	12,574	22,109	34,776
1952	R	−34.4%	11,080	22,910	34,361
1948	R	−20.7%	9,862	15,395	26,690
1944	R	−8.5%	9,357	11,102	20,637
1940	R	−3.4%	10,683	11,453	22,486
1936	D	+6.0%	9,326	8,260	17,908
1932	D	+14.9%	8,246	6,005	14,990
1928	R	−38.0%	3,688	8,275	12,075
1924	R	−51.8%	801	5,402	8,879
1920	R	−41.7%	1,957	5,285	7,974
1916	D	+3.0%	4,511	4,228	9,446
1912	D	+40.2%	2,875	0	7,152
1908	R	−23.6%	1,643	2,886	5,275
1904	R	−35.1%	1,105	2,626	4,329
1900	R	−13.2%	1,635	2,173	4,085
1896	R	−0.2%	1,960	1,969	4,082
1892	R	−8.0%	1,512	1,843	4,112
1888	R	−6.2%	1,750	1,996	3,940
1884	R	−9.7%	1,365	1,667	3,105
1880	R	−5.5%	1,102	1,236	2,451
1876	R	−15.2%	1,132	1,537	2,669

Demographics

Race, ethnicity, and ancestry

Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.

American

100.0%

Sample size too small to break out by ancestry reliably.

Multiple ancestry combinations reported; no single grouping above 1%.

American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander combined.

Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release. Ancestry is a self-reported, multiple-response item; ancestry percentages do not sum to the parent race percentage.

Age distribution by sex

Median age: 39.8 in this county, 39.1 nationally

Male

Age

Female

0.8%

85+

1.4%

2.4%

75–84

2.7%

5.7%

65–74

6.0%

6.2%

55–64

6.5%

6.1%

45–54

5.8%

6.1%

35–44

5.9%

6.1%

25–34

5.8%

7.0%

18–24

7.1%

7.2%

5–17

6.8%

2.2%

Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.

Median household income

2024 inflation-adjusted dollars

$111,093

Santa Cruz County ranks in the top 0.5% of US counties.

Santa Cruz County$111,093

California$99,122

United States$80,734

Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.

Poverty rate

All persons below federal poverty line

11.6%

Children face moderate poverty.

Children under 1818.0%

Working age (18–64)100.0%

Seniors (65+)18.0%

Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.

Language at home

Population aged 5 and older

0.0%

speak English only

Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.

Religious adherents

Adherents per capita by tradition

Catholic & Orthodox

26.3%

Other Christian

7.2%

Non-Christian

3.7%

Mainline Protestant

1.0%

Baptist

0.6%

Pentecostal & Holiness

0.5%

Methodist

0.2%

Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 60.5% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.

Santa Cruz County consistently posts some of the widest Democratic presidential margins in the state, driven by a dense concentration of university affiliates, tech workers, and long-established progressive communities along Monterey Bay.

The unraveling was not abrupt. The Democratic margin in Santa Cruz County peaked at sixty points in 2020; it narrowed steadily over the late twentieth century. The 1984 election delivered the county to the Republican party for the first time in many years, by a margin of eight points. By 2024, the margin had widened further.

The economic and demographic context is severe. Santa Cruz County's median household income of $111,093 is among the lowest of any county in the United States; 12% of residents live below the federal poverty line. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Sonoma County and Multnomah County.

Most similar counties

For forty years, Santa Cruz County voted Republican. Then it stopped.