Monterey County, California

• White (non-Hispanic) 117,547 26.9%
• Hispanic or Latino (any race) 269,490 61.6%
• Black or African American (non-Hispanic) 8,954 2.0%
• Asian (non-Hispanic) 24,126 5.5%
• Two or more races (non-Hispanic) 13,311 3.0%
• American Indian / Alaska Native (non-Hispanic) 594 0.1%
• Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander (non-Hispanic) 1,679 0.4%
• Some other race (non-Hispanic) 1,912 0.4%

• Under 18 112,274 25.7%
• 18–24 43,949 10.0%
• 25–44 117,404 26.8%
• 45–64 98,918 22.6%
• 65 and over 65,068 14.9%

Median household income

$91,761

90% interval $88,096–$95,426

−$8,369 vs CA · 23rd of 58

Below poverty line

13.7%

90% interval 11.9%–15.5%

+1.9 pp vs CA · 24th of 58

Unemployment (12-mo)

7.6%

+2.22 pp vs. state

County GDP

$38.3B

0.95% of state

Avg. annual pay

$63,594

Establishments

15,910

• Natural resources & mining 52,565 26.5%
• Education & health services 41,808 21.1%
• Trade, transportation & utilities 26,324 13.3%
• Leisure & hospitality 25,895 13.0%
• Public administration 14,530 7.3%
• Professional & business services 13,953 7.0%
• Construction 8,000 4.0%
• Other services 5,655 2.8%
• Manufacturing 4,514 2.3%
• Financial activities 4,212 2.1%
• Information 1,061 0.5%
• Unclassified 9 0.0%

Home ownership

52.1%

−3.8 pp vs CA · 56th of 58

Median gross rent

$2,055

+$19 vs CA · 16th of 58

Owner-occupied

68,993

Renter-occupied

63,496

• Moderately concentrated

  Top three sectors employ 61% of the county workforce. Substantial intra-sector overlap among panelists is likely; confirm employer relationships before sector-specific framing.

• Compressed wage spread

  Highest-paid sector pays only 2.3× the lowest ($99,443 vs $42,977/yr), a relatively flat local wage distribution.

• Mixed business scale

  Average establishment employs 12 workers, a mix of institutional employers and small businesses. Both employed-by-large-institution and small-business-owner perspectives are likely on the panel.

• Democratic 93,060 63.4%
• Republican 49,226 33.6%
• Other / third-party 4,432 3.0%

• Spanish 203,706 49.8%
• Tagalog 5,316 1.3%
• Chinese 3,301 0.8%
• Arabic 2,014 0.5%
• French, Haitian, or Cajun 1,487 0.4%
• Russian, Polish, or other Slavic 1,453 0.4%
• German or other West Germanic 1,445 0.4%
• Korean 1,183 0.3%
• Vietnamese 1,014 0.2%

Households

132,489

Family households

97,137

73.3% of households

Married couples w/ children

27,742

28.6% of families

Single-mother families

10,327

10.6% of families

Veterans

13,371

4.2% of civilians 18+

• Catholic 203,884 46.4%
• Other (non-Christian + minor traditions) 28,026 6.4%
• Evangelical Protestant 21,834 5.0%
• Mainline Protestant 5,821 1.3%
• Black Protestant 2,110 0.5%
• Orthodox 375 0.1%

Health insured

90.4%

±0.5 pp

Uninsured

9.6%

±0.5 pp

3rd of 58

With a disability

9.3%

±0.4 pp

57th of 58

Bachelor's or higher

28.2%

±0.7 pp

−8.9 pp vs CA · 28th of 58

Uninsured, under 65 (2024)

9.3%

90% interval 8.5%–10.1% · Census SAHIE

The under-65 uninsured rate is not comparable to the ACS insurance figures, which cover all ages.

Trial court

Monterey County Superior Court

Judges

23 (Superior Court judges + commissioners; vintage 2026 courts.ca.gov per-court rosters and Judicial Council Court Statistics Report. Counts for the smallest rural counties (Alpine, Sierra, Mono, Modoc, Trinity, Mariposa, Colusa) are at or near the statutory authorized-judgeship floor per Cal. Gov. Code § 69590 et seq.)

Court seats

Salinas

Traffic fatalities

45

13.83 per 100k adults (18+)

Fatal crashes

43