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2024 Compare Cities Economy:
Palo Alto, CA vs Santa Cruz, CA

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Highlights
- Household income in Santa Cruz, is 51% less than it is in Palo Alto and is 28% above the National Average.
- Palo Alto unemployment rate is 3.5%.
- Santa Cruz unemployment rate is 4.5%.

Economy
 Palo Alto, CASanta Cruz, CAUnited States
 Unemployment Rate3.5%4.5%6.0%
 Recent Job Growth2.5%1.8%1.6%
 Future Job Growth40.5%33.8%33.5%
 Sales Taxes9.0%9.3%6.2%
 Income Taxes8.0%8.0%4.6%
 Income per Cap.$105,070$46,720$37,638
 Household Income$194,782$96,217$69,021
 Family Median Income$241,579$145,326$85,028
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 Est. Households By Income
 Palo Alto, CASanta Cruz, CAUnited States
 Income Less Than 15K5.2%10.7%9.4%
 Income between 15K and 20K1.3%3.6%3.8%
 Income between 20K and 30K3.1%7.9%8.1%
 Income between 30K and 40K2.6%5.9%8.0%
 Income between 40K and 50K2.9%4.6%7.6%
 Income between 50K and 60K2.6%3.8%7.2%
 Income between 60K and 75K4.6%6.1%9.6%
 Income between 75K and 100K5.4%9.2%12.8%
 Income between 100K and 150K12.8%16.1%16.3%
 Income between 150K and 200K9.9%11.5%7.8%
 Income greater than 200K49.5%20.7%9.5%
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 Population By Occupation
 Palo Alto, CASanta Cruz, CAUnited States
 Management, business, finance26.5%17.4%16.4%
 Engineering, computers, science29.0%12.2%6.5%
 Community, social services1.0%2.9%1.8%
 Legal3.7%0.7%1.2%
 Education, library10.2%10.1%6.2%
 Arts, design, media, sports, entertainment3.5%4.3%2.0%
 Healthcare practitioners and technology5.9%6.3%6.2%
 Healthcare support1.1%1.9%3.3%
 Firefighters, law enforcement0.6%1.3%2.1%
 Food preparation, serving1.6%9.9%5.4%
 Building maintenance0.4%2.2%3.6%
 Personal care2.3%3.3%2.6%
 Sales, office, administrative support10.0%18.1%20.9%
 Farming, fishing, forestry0.1%0.9%0.6%
 Construction, extraction, maintenance/repair1.6%3.3%8.1%
 Production, transportation, material moving2.5%5.2%13.1%

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Reviews for Palo Alto    8 Reviews

The Bay Area in general, but Palo Alto specifically provides many of the qualities sought by many; the climate is beautiful, there is access to cultural and recreational  More

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Over 16 years ago

Very  More

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Over 17 years ago

VTA and SamsTrans and Caltrain all provide good service and most times frequency of service is  More

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Reviews for Santa Cruz    44 Reviews

I lived in the Santa Cruz area for 20 years. UCSC alum. Our kids were born there. There are wonderful things about Santa Cruz, but also many serious problems that we  More

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Over 4 years ago

I have been here for four generations! My kids are the fifth. I guess that should tell you how wonderful it is here, at least for us. It's so cool to have world class  More

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I was born over the hill in San Jose area, and as a kid I loved coming over to the boardwalk. Santa Cruz has always been and always will be a town of diversity,  More

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Start Your Review of Santa Cruz

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ZIPS IN PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA
94306 94301 94304
ZIPS IN SANTA CRUZ, CALIFORNIA
95060 95064

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