2025 Compare Cities Economy:
Santa Cruz, CA vs Castro Valley, CA

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Highlights
- Household income in Castro Valley, is 29% more than it is in Santa Cruz and is 44% above the National Average.
- Santa Cruz unemployment rate is 4.5%.
- Castro Valley unemployment rate is 6.5%.
 Santa Cruz, CACastro Valley, CAUnited States
 Unemployment Rate  Unlock6.5%6.0%
 Recent Job Growth  Unlock1.4%1.6%
 Future Job Growth33.8%  Unlock33.5%
 Sales Taxes9.3%  Unlock6.2%
 Income Taxes  Unlock8.0%4.6%
 Income per Cap.$46,720  Unlock$37,638
 Household Income  Unlock$124,203$69,021
 Family Median Income$145,326  Unlock$85,028
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 Est. Households By Income
 Santa Cruz, CACastro Valley, CAUnited States
 Income Less Than 15K  Unlock5.1%9.4%
 Income between 15K and 20K3.6%  Unlock3.8%
 Income between 20K and 30K  Unlock4.0%8.1%
 Income between 30K and 40K5.9%  Unlock8.0%
 Income between 40K and 50K  Unlock3.9%7.6%
 Income between 50K and 60K3.8%  Unlock7.2%
 Income between 60K and 75K  Unlock7.4%9.6%
 Income between 75K and 100K9.2%  Unlock12.8%
 Income between 100K and 150K  Unlock19.2%16.3%
 Income between 150K and 200K11.5%  Unlock7.8%
 Income greater than 200K  Unlock25.2%9.5%
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 Population By Occupation
 Santa Cruz, CACastro Valley, CAUnited States
 Management, business, finance17.4%  Unlock16.4%
 Engineering, computers, science  Unlock10.1%6.5%
 Community, social services2.9%  Unlock1.8%
 Legal  Unlock1.0%1.2%
 Education, library10.1%  Unlock6.2%
 Arts, design, media, sports, entertainment  Unlock2.6%2.0%
 Healthcare practitioners and technology6.3%  Unlock6.2%
 Healthcare support  Unlock3.7%3.3%
 Firefighters, law enforcement1.3%  Unlock2.1%
 Food preparation, serving  Unlock3.7%5.4%
 Building maintenance2.2%  Unlock3.6%
 Personal care  Unlock2.6%2.6%
 Sales, office, administrative support18.1%  Unlock20.9%
 Farming, fishing, forestry  Unlock0.1%0.6%
 Construction, extraction, maintenance/repair3.3%  Unlock8.1%
 Production, transportation, material moving  Unlock10.5%13.1%
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 5 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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Reviews for Castro Valley    7 Reviews

CURMUDGEON - THANK YOU for your post. The most important part of your comment is your second paragraph. "Hodge-Podge" is the correct word for a lot of Castro  More

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Over 11 years ago

Kind of rural but close to Oakland and San  More

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Castro Valley is the largest unincorporated "city" in the Bay Area. Over the years, several attempts have been made to incorporate, but they have all been defeated at  More

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