AreaProfile

95064Santa Cruz, California

Area Profile

Income, jobs, climate, physical risk and development data for ZIP code 95064.

59
Area Score
Bottom 46% of 5,298 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity3546th of 6,210 published ZIP areas51
GrowthTop 31% of 5,428 published ZIP areas61
Housing affordabilityTop 31% of 6,685 published ZIP areas90
ClimateTop 15% of 6,789 published ZIP areas81
Physical resilience5460th of 6,709 published ZIP areas24
Access4525th of 6,791 published ZIP areas88
Economic stability6236th of 6,742 published ZIP areas29
The quick read

Development activity is both elevated and accelerating — 417 housing units permitted over the past twelve months, up 391% on the prior year.

Physical-risk exposure is above the national median, driven mainly by earthquake, inland flooding and drought.

Its Area Score of 59 places 95064 in the top 54% of published ZIP profiles.

At a glance

Population
10,168
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$121,042
Top 9% nationally
Density
5,974/sq mi
1.7 sq mi of land
Median age
19.6
2024 ACS 5-Year
City
Santa Cruz
California
Metro area
Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA
Nearest major airport
SJC
27 mi · Norman Y Mineta San Jose Intl
Median home value
$467,000
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 5.1% is lower than 25% of the 6,544 measured US ZIP areas.

Employment fell 2.0% over the past year, to 32,086 employed residents.

76% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 98% of measured US ZIP areas.

Household income is higher than at least 91% of measured US ZIP areas.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$48,868$121,042Top 9%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$3,543$13,308Bottom 2%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate18.7%Top 21%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute24.3 minBottom 31%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher75.7%Top 2%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment32,086Bottom 33%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)0.1%Top 49%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-2.0%Bottom 18%June 2026
Labor force33,820Bottom 33%June 2026
Labor force participation45.1%Bottom 13%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$73,140Top 30%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$54,730Top 30%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)-0.2%Bottom 36%June 2026
Unemployment rate5.1%Top 25%June 2026
Median household income, successive ACS releases
2021202220232024121k108k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $121,042 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.
Largest occupations — Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Home Health and Personal Care Aides4,470$34,320
Office Clerks, General3,360$41,040
Fast Food and Counter Workers3,220$43,400
Cashiers2,530$37,390
Retail Salespersons2,430$38,620
General and Operations Managers1,770$105,360

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish labor-force data for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Santa Cruz, CA, the city containing this ZIP code.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $1,586 takes 16% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 3.9 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Rent as a share of income
15.7%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.9×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,586
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$467,000
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income3.86Top 31%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate34.7%Bottom 4%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±152536Bottom 33%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$299$1,586Top 19%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$21,147$467,000Top 15%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income15.7%Bottom 36%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate7.6%Bottom 36%2024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →
Development Momentum
61/ 100
Top 31% of 5,428 published city profiles

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

93% of recently permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes, so new supply is concentrated in apartments and condominiums rather than detached houses.

At 6.8 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US ZIP areas.

Units permitted
417
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
6.8
Top 21% nationally
Year over year
+391%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
92.6%
units in 5+ unit buildings

The Building Permits Survey is not published for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Santa Cruz, CA, the city containing this ZIP code.

Weather & climate

7 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 72°F and January a low of 40°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 22.4 inches.

30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station WATSONVILLE MUNI AP, 15.4 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND4.6"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation22.4"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low40°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high72°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months71991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing14°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today.

Physical risk

24 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are earthquake, inland flooding and drought.

DroughtHigh
LandslideModerate
EarthquakeHigh
WildfireModerate
Inland floodingHigh
Heat waveModerate
TsunamiModerate
AvalancheModerate

Low or minimal exposure: lightning, coastal flooding, hail, winter weather, tornado, strong wind.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. ZIP values are the land-area-weighted mean of the counties the ZIP Code Tabulation Area intersects. Expected annual loss is not allocated below county level. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

What this profile does not cover

Three things people look for are missing from every AreaProfile page, and each is missing for a reason rather than by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Crime
The FBI’s Crime Data Explorer is the only source with national coverage and a published method, and it requires an API key AreaProfile does not hold. Arrest counts, news volume and commercial “safety scores” are not substituted in the meantime. Reported crime is also easy to misread: agency participation varies year to year, and a city that draws a large daytime workforce carries incidents its residents did not generate.
Taxes
No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, transparent methodology and update cadence. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Full cost of living
No public source publishes one with national coverage and a documented method. Housing affordability above is computed from published rent, price and income, and excludes transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes — commuting cost in particular tends to offset suburban housing savings.

Access

4 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 27 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Norman Y Mineta San Jose IntlSJC27 mi11,000 ft
San Francisco IntlSFO47 mi11,870 ft
Oakland San Francisco BayOAK51 mi10,520 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Area Score
59
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)

Profile recalculated August 29, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology or browse every source.

95064 vs Santa Cruz

How this ZIP area compares with Santa Cruz as a whole. Both figures come from the same ACS release, so the comparison is like for like.

95064
Santa Cruz
Median household income
$121,042
vs
$115,475
Per capita income
$13,308
vs
$55,676
Population density
5,974/sq mi
vs
4,836/sq mi
Median home value
$467,000
vs
$1,209,000
Median gross rent
$1,586
vs
$2,452
Homeownership rate
34.7%
vs
48.4%
Bachelor's degree or higher
75.7%
vs
57.6%
Poverty rate
18.7%
vs
17.0%
Median age
19.6
vs
31.1

Some demographic statistics use Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, which approximate but do not exactly match USPS ZIP delivery geography. See the methodology for how AreaProfile maps between them.