2025 Compare Cities Economy:
Santa Cruz, CA vs South Lake Tahoe, CA

Change Cities
Highlights
- Household income in South Lake Tahoe, is 40% less than it is in Santa Cruz and is 19% below the National Average.
- Santa Cruz unemployment rate is 4.5%.
- South Lake Tahoe unemployment rate is 6.3%.
 Santa Cruz, CASouth Lake Tahoe, CAUnited States
 Unemployment Rate  Unlock6.3%6.0%
 Recent Job Growth  Unlock1.7%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$57,976$69,021
 Family Median Income$145,326  Unlock$85,028
 space
 Est. Households By Income
 Santa Cruz, CASouth Lake Tahoe, CAUnited States
 Income Less Than 15K  Unlock10.1%9.4%
 Income between 15K and 20K3.6%  Unlock3.8%
 Income between 20K and 30K  Unlock9.8%8.1%
 Income between 30K and 40K5.9%  Unlock8.0%
 Income between 40K and 50K  Unlock7.2%7.6%
 Income between 50K and 60K3.8%  Unlock7.2%
 Income between 60K and 75K  Unlock9.7%9.6%
 Income between 75K and 100K9.2%  Unlock12.8%
 Income between 100K and 150K  Unlock16.2%16.3%
 Income between 150K and 200K11.5%  Unlock7.8%
 Income greater than 200K  Unlock7.1%9.5%
 space1
 Population By Occupation
 Santa Cruz, CASouth Lake Tahoe, CAUnited States
 Management, business, finance17.4%  Unlock16.4%
 Engineering, computers, science  Unlock3.9%6.5%
 Community, social services2.9%  Unlock1.8%
 Legal  Unlock0.2%1.2%
 Education, library10.1%  Unlock6.2%
 Arts, design, media, sports, entertainment  Unlock3.2%2.0%
 Healthcare practitioners and technology6.3%  Unlock6.2%
 Healthcare support  Unlock3.0%3.3%
 Firefighters, law enforcement1.3%  Unlock2.1%
 Food preparation, serving  Unlock13.2%5.4%
 Building maintenance2.2%  Unlock3.6%
 Personal care  Unlock6.1%2.6%
 Sales, office, administrative support18.1%  Unlock20.9%
 Farming, fishing, forestry  Unlock0.9%0.6%
 Construction, extraction, maintenance/repair3.3%  Unlock8.1%
 Production, transportation, material moving  Unlock10.9%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

   |    Reply

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

   |    Reply

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

   |    Reply

Start Your Review of Santa Cruz

Reviews for South Lake Tahoe    10 Reviews

Over 5 years ago

Pretty boring town. Very run down and seedy too. Lake is nothing special either. I much prefer the Pacific coast or even the Atlantic coast or great  More

   |    Reply

Seriously I don't get what the big deal about this dump is everything is grossly overpriced scenery is boring and not at all interesting very boring nothing to do very  More

   |    Reply

Over 5 years ago

Beautiful place to live. This site has most of the details wrong, has somehow lumped it together with Sacramento. Elevation is 6250 feet at the lake. Weather is cold in  More

   |    Reply

Start Your Review of South Lake Tahoe


Premium Subscription
Includes Cost of Living compares for child care, utilities, transportation, health, taxes, housing for home owners vs renters, weather, insurance premiums and so much more.


The premier source for comprehensive city data for over 30 years.

© Best Places. All rights reserved.