2025 Compare Cities Economy:
Santa Cruz, CA vs Friday Harbor, WA

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Highlights
- Household income in Friday Harbor, is 40% less than it is in Santa Cruz and is 19% below the National Average.
- Santa Cruz unemployment rate is 4.5%.
- Friday Harbor unemployment rate is 6.2%.
 Santa Cruz, CAFriday Harbor, WAUnited States
 Unemployment Rate  Unlock6.2%6.0%
 Recent Job Growth  Unlock-0.4%1.6%
 Future Job Growth33.8%  Unlock33.5%
 Sales Taxes9.3%  Unlock6.2%
 Income Taxes  Unlock0.0%4.6%
 Income per Cap.$46,720  Unlock$37,638
 Household Income  Unlock$57,885$69,021
 Family Median Income$145,326  Unlock$85,028
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 Est. Households By Income
 Santa Cruz, CAFriday Harbor, WAUnited States
 Income Less Than 15K  Unlock8.7%9.4%
 Income between 15K and 20K3.6%  Unlock3.8%
 Income between 20K and 30K  Unlock6.8%8.1%
 Income between 30K and 40K5.9%  Unlock8.0%
 Income between 40K and 50K  Unlock5.7%7.6%
 Income between 50K and 60K3.8%  Unlock7.2%
 Income between 60K and 75K  Unlock8.4%9.6%
 Income between 75K and 100K9.2%  Unlock12.8%
 Income between 100K and 150K  Unlock12.8%16.3%
 Income between 150K and 200K11.5%  Unlock7.8%
 Income greater than 200K  Unlock7.0%9.5%
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 Population By Occupation
 Santa Cruz, CAFriday Harbor, WAUnited States
 Management, business, finance17.4%  Unlock16.4%
 Engineering, computers, science  Unlock4.9%6.5%
 Community, social services2.9%  Unlock1.8%
 Legal  Unlock1.6%1.2%
 Education, library10.1%  Unlock6.2%
 Arts, design, media, sports, entertainment  Unlock6.6%2.0%
 Healthcare practitioners and technology6.3%  Unlock6.2%
 Healthcare support  Unlock4.8%3.3%
 Firefighters, law enforcement1.3%  Unlock2.1%
 Food preparation, serving  Unlock7.7%5.4%
 Building maintenance2.2%  Unlock3.6%
 Personal care  Unlock3.3%2.6%
 Sales, office, administrative support18.1%  Unlock20.9%
 Farming, fishing, forestry  Unlock1.3%0.6%
 Construction, extraction, maintenance/repair3.3%  Unlock8.1%
 Production, transportation, material moving  Unlock6.6%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 Friday Harbor    2 Reviews

Beautiful place to retire and live, but a very expensive area to buy property and maintain. Services are limited and labor is in big shortage. So be prepared to pay up  More

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I lived on the Island for a couple of the winter months in 2007. I house sat a beautiful home on acreage with a view of the water. The Island is very quiet during the  More

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